For Daughters. For Mothers.

The relationships between mothers and their children can be complicated.  The older you get, the more often you will do or say something and think "I've become my mother."  Sometimes, it is those little things which nearly drive you crazy, that you find yourself now doing.  Other times, their daily feats, you realize, are as close to superhero as mere mortals can get.  Or in the category of prophecy, those things they wished for you are a realty.  

In a word, mothers are a miracle.  They are your biggest and most constant cheerleaders.  Dreams for a Daughter (Atheneum Books For Young Readers, March 9, 2021) written by Carole Boston Weatherford with illustrations by Brian Pinkney are tender, but fierce commitments of an African American mother to her African American daughter. 

As I cradle you, look in your eyes,

the ancestors peer back at me.

Your gaze says softly,

I want to know everything.

I Promise to show you all that I can.  

So begins an enduring interlude between a mother and her daughter.  She sends out a prayer for her joyful embrace of life to continue and endure.  She watches as the love of her heart toddles away, happy in her ability to move on her own toward an unknown goal.

A first bike ride without training wheels is a jubilant celebration for both mother and daughter; one brave enough to go and the other brave enough to let her go.  A desire to know and understand is a trait to be valued and encouraged.  Going to school for the first time is a step toward expanding knowing and understanding.  Books champion needed narratives.

Shouts of encouragement will ring across any chosen playing field from this mother for her daughter.  May this child always be free to express and use talents, natural or earned.  Like the voices of mothers for generations, this mother wants more for her daughter than for those who came before her.

Though you are small in stature, your voice can speak volumes.  Trust in your instincts and turn away when necessary, to avoid danger.  In her final words to her beloved, the mother reminds her daughter of her constant presence, even if miles separate them.

The words written here by Carole Boston Weatherford lift up every reader's heart, but especially the hearts of those for whom they are written.  Whether read softly to oneself or aloud to an empty room or to a group, these words sing like hot chocolate warmth.  Each of the fourteen assurances builds on the other fashioning an unbreakable lifeline from mother to child.

Four times the mother makes observations about her daughter followed by the word I.  After I, we read what this mother will do for her daughter.  This technique is reversed for the next four sections.  For the final six portions, a blend is used by this wordsmith.  Here is a single beautiful passage.

When you learn to read,

you follow my finger and mouth each word.

I stroke your curly crown.

Books will carry you far

as you author your own story.

Sunshine and lightness radiate from the matching and open dust jacket and book case as complementary colors create patterns, flowing lines, and great affection.  When you look at the front, right, the bond between the mother and daughter is strong and true.  You can see it in their eyes and the way they hold each other.  On the dust jacket, the title text is in a pink foil hue and raised to the touch.

To the left of the spine, on the back, we are gifted with a peek at an image nearly identical to an interior illustration.  A sun, large and low to the horizon, with a compassionate gaze and slight smile, looks at the daughter.  She is a younger version of herself, standing on a hill, ready to face the world fortified by her mother's words.  Shades of yellow, orange, turquoise, and purple swirl and take shape.

On the opening and closing endpapers is a dusty lavender.  A smiling face of a daughter is framed in a starburst on the title page.  These illustrations 

rendered in watercolor, gouache, and India ink on Strathmore watercolor paper

place highly animated mothers and daughters within Brian Pinkney's remarkable brushes of color, alive with motion and emotion.  

Each portrait of a mother and their daughter is their love captured in a particular place and time.  As our eyes move from left to right across these double-page pictures, we might see a single moment as it happens or the depiction of a moment yet to be.  Some are more intimate than others, bringing us close to the duo and others present a more wide-angle perspective.

One of my many favorite illustrations features a mother and daughter on a picnic.  For this visual greens and yellows are the predominant colors.  Close to readers is the mother, mostly to the left of the gutter, seated on the blanket, her back to us.  A basket and drinking glass are on either side of her.  With her hands on her hips, she watches her darling daughter take first strong steps on her own, off on an adventure.  The child's arms are outstretched for balance.  She is in yellow but wears a pair of orange plaid overalls.  This is perfectly precious.

You will never tire of rereading this superb blend of loving language and charming, profound images found in Dreams for a Daughter by Carole Boston Weatherford with illustrations by Brian Pinkney.  This book speaks directly to African American mothers and their daughters but will find an audience with all mothers and their daughters.  I highly recommend you find a place for this title on your personal and professional bookshelves.

To learn more about Carol Boston Weatherford and Brian Pinkney and their other work, please visit their respective websites by following the link attached to their names.  Carol Boston Weatherford has accounts on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.  Brian Pinkney has an account on Instagram.  At the publisher's website you can view interior images.  

Not everyone can agree on their origin, but most can agree the "yo' mama" jokes have been spoken for decades, if not centuries.  As soon as everyone reads Your Mama (Versify, an imprint of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, April 6, 2021) written by NoNieqa Ramos with illustrations by Jacqueline Alcantara, they will quickly discover these fiery, shout-out-loud words and vibrant, colorful images are a tribute to mothers for everything they are.  They stand large in our lives, knitting all threads together to form a thing of love we wear with us wherever we go.

YOUR MAMA SO SWEET,

SHE COULD BE A BAKERY,

all frosting, powdered sugar, and pastries.

Leaves love notes in your almuerzo, homemade.

She's the cinnamon to your tembleque,

the tres leches to your cake.

Each of the ten bannered accolades bring readers into an exuberant scene of multiple sides of motherhood.  Her physical strength in the face of adversity is nearly legendary, but her style in clothing and accessories has heads turning in admiration.  When she could scold, she applauds your ingenuity.

There are times, though, when your mama thinks she might be losing her mind.  Is there such a thing as quiet time alone?  When it comes to learning, this mother gets an A++ and the library is her second home.  If you need answers, she finds them.

This has you wondering how she knows so much, even what you might be thinking.  She gets you better than anyone else.  Her sense of humor is off the charts, entertaining everyone in her company.  You will see her marching for justice and voicing her concerns with her votes.  

Wealth for this mother is not found in banks or possessions.  She is rich with connections in her neighborhood.  Familia is her greatest treasure; you are the largest gem in her world.  What should you do for your mama?  You move to her rhythm, an inseparable duo, cloaked in love.

It's a given readers and listeners alike will be unable to sit still reading the enchanting words penned by NoNieqa Ramos.  Her blend of Spanish and English supply us with a symphony of rhythm.  Each rhyming portion invites us to read it aloud.  We want to join this mother and this daughter in the daily jubilee of their lives.  There is an interlude, a pause of words, between bannered accolades, but the beat is still sweet.  Here is a portion of a cadenced passage.

YOUR MAMA

DRESS SO FINE,

she could have her own clothing line.

The way she walks into a room---

SHUU!---

she's an ad for

fancy perfume.

The splash of flowers, leaves and vines on the wash of denim blue, left to right, on the open and matching dust jacket and book case, opens your mind and heart to the joy waiting for you inside this book.  Look at the mother and her daughter on the front, right.  Their unbridled expression of dance is contagious.  The birds holding the banner is your introduction to the use of banners throughout the book.  It is an announcement.

The opening and closing endpapers glow in golden yellow.  On the title page two hearts rimmed in gold, flowers, and several elements from interior illustrations make a collage on which the mother and daughter are placed.  With a page turn we are drawn into the narrative by the first banner of many woven around a single item or group of items.  For example, the first banner loops around a spectacular many layered cake.  Strawberries, flowers, a spatula, a jar of cinnamon sticks, a whisk, a bag of spilled flour, and a slice of cake present a marvelous array.  Opposite this is the mother and daughter engaged in an activity.

These images rendered

using markers, pastels, Procreate, and Adobe Photoshop

by Jacqueline Alcantara nearly jump off the pages.  Most of them span two pages with the exception of several full-page pictures, and two smaller illustrations on a single page.  The illustrations flow, page turn to page turn, but you could take any one and frame it for the moments it expresses.

The facial features and body postures of the mother and daughter burst with life.  Each time you look at a picture, you will discover a new detail.  Careful readers will see insertions of humor such as the cat lifting its paw over the spinning record on the turntable.

One of my many favorite illustrations is for YOUR MAMA SO STRONG.  It references her strength to that of a marine.  It mentions her carrying groceries up flights of stairs and carrying you on her back to the emergency room when you are both sick.  On the left, a large anchor is wrapped in the banner with a night cityscape in the background.  Climbing up the top of the anchor is the child with the mother in front of her, laden with bags.  On the right, a hospital building looms large.  Coming from the lighted entrance in winter is the mother carrying her child.  Both are wearing winter clothing.  The mother has on her black boots covered in red roses.  The little girl grasps her favorite stuffed toy bunny.

You will be ready to read this book again as soon as you finish it.  The fabulous mix of words and artwork found in Your Mama written by NoNieqa Ramos with illustrations by Jacqueline Alcantara invites, no begs, you to read it repeatedly because this book is bliss.  Be ready to hear a chorus of read it again!  I know you will want a copy for both your personal and professional collections.

To discover more about both NoNieqa Ramos and Jacqueline Alcantara and their other work, please visit their respective websites by following the link attached to their names.  NoNieqa Ramos has accounts on Instagram and Twitter.  Jacqueline Alcantara has accounts on Behance, Instagram, SoundCloud, and Twitter.  The cover reveal was showcased at Latinxs in Kid Lit.  At the publisher's website is a book trailer hosted by Kwame Alexander.

Seeing Soul

One of many differences between being a teacher librarian in a middle school setting for the first twenty-one years of your career and then switching to an elementary school is the unrestrained honesty of the younger children.  It is not that the middle school gals and guys are not honest, but usually you must through careful conversation based on trust find answers.  The elementary students will, without being asked, offer their opinions.

They notice every single detail about you.  No part of your physical appearance goes undetected.  Your words are remembered.  This is why they observe the same things in others and themselves.  Eyes that Kiss in the Corners (Harper, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers, January 5, 2021) written by Joanna Ho with illustrations by Dung Ho is an exquisite portrayal of a young girl realizing and accepting her wondrous self.

Some people have

eyes like sapphire lagoons

with lashes like lace trim on ballgowns,

sweeping their cheeks as they twirl.

Big eyes, long lashes.

Not me.

The girl goes on to say her eyes

kiss in the corners and glow like warm tea.

Her mother's eyes, like her eyes, show one more characteristic when she arrives home from work.  Embracing, the two find themselves on the floor laughing.  Before she goes to sleep, her mother's eyes reflect other truths to her.

In the morning she tells us her mother's eyes are like Amah's eyes.  Amah is her grandmother.  Her grandmother's eyes see physically less than when she was younger, but they have other abilities.  They see into the child's soul.  Her eyes are brimming with stories she shares with her granddaughter.

Mei-Mei, her younger sister, has eyes like her mother, her grandmother, and her.  In Mei-Mei's eyes a whole new kind of look follows the girl.  It sends her spirit soaring.  This sense of soaring is something the girl wants to share with her little sister for the rest of their lives. 

Through the eyes of the women in her family, the girl sees a power passed from generation to generation.  There are sparks ready to ignite possibilities and promote change.  These eyes, her eyes,

that kiss in the corners

are lovely in every respect.

Each sentence penned by Joanna Ho is a marvelous study on the souls, shining through the eyes .of the women in this child's life.  Her choice of words is breathtakingly beautiful.  It's an intimate reflection told in the girl's voice.   Readers will understand, like the girl, there is beauty in eyes like her eyes.  It's been there for generations.  It will always be there.  Here is a passage when the girl is speaking about her grandmother.

Her eyes are filled with so many stories.

I can fall inside them

and swim until time stops.

When you open the matching dust jacket and book case, you cannot help but smile at the delightful image which extends flap edge to flap edge.  The girl's hair billows from her face as a breeze blows it to the far left-hand corner.  Two other Monarch butterflies flutter toward the spine on the back, left, as the peony petals drift past them and the child's hair.  Warmth radiates through the use of light and shadow, not only on this jacket and case, but throughout the book.

Hues of golden yellow, some white, and chocolate browns color the opening endpapers in a glorious display of peonies, chrysanthemums, and what look like white buttercups.  On the closing endpapers we move closer to the flowers, now in full bloom.  Monarch butterflies appear and move among them.  (I've always seen the butterfly as a symbol of change.  I wonder if their placement in these images is for that reason.)  

On the two pages dedicated to the title a garland of flowers begins in the upper, left-hand corner and drapes down to the right.  The girl stands among the flowers, holding a single blossom up to her right eye.  A butterfly moves toward her, right to left.

Rendered digitally by Dung Ho, each illustration, most of them double-page pictures, depict familial scenes of great affection and joy.  The details in each visual contribute to these overall truths and emotional impacts.  When the girl and her mother are creating a mural on a wall, she is wearing a newspaper sailor hat as they both paint and smile.  When her mom comes home from work, her purse is dropped on the floor as is a bag of groceries so she can hug her child.  In the pictures mirroring stories and legends, the artwork is a swirl of historically strong women, fierce dragons, birds, and fish.  The artwork throughout embraces the text AND the reader.

One of my many, many favorite illustrations spreads across two pages.  The sky is a faint blue washed in delicate white clouds.  On the right side a field of flowers fashion a colorful palette.  On the left in this field of flowers are the girl and her little sister, Mei-Mei.  Mei-Mei is on the girl's back.  They are pretending to be bunnies.  The youngest has paper bunny ears they've made on her head with a fluffy tail attached to her clothing on her back.  Dressed in a long pink shirt, belted with a darker-colored scarf, over a flowing white skirt, the girl has flowers in her hair with two large blue-ribbon ears on her head.  The girl is smiling as her younger sister laughs.  You can tell how much they love each other.

You cannot read this book, Eyes that Kiss in the Corners written by Joanna Ho with illustrations by Dung Ho, and not be happier.  The celebration of self reaches out to all readers.  I highly recommend this title for your personal and professional collections.  [Note:  One year at my elementary school a new student, an Asian American girl, unable to speak English arrived.  At every opportunity I tried to help her.  This book is for her, to all the Susans who need to see themselves portrayed beautifully.)

To learn more about Joanna Ho and Dung Ho and their other work, please follow the link attached to their names to access their websites.  Joanna Ho has accounts on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.  Dung Ho has an account of Instagram.  At the author's website you can view interior images.  Joanna Ho is interviewed at Nerd Daily.

Gratitude-An Attitude

It's name comes from the Roman god of agriculture and harvest, Saturn or Saturnus.  By definition it is the seventh day of the week, coming between Friday and Sunday.  It is considered a part of the weekend; those forty-eight hours when the five previous days of work or school are completed.  It is a time for a more leisurely pace or, at the very least, a day dedicated to doing exactly what you choose to do, alone or with family or friends.

The demands of watching the clock and keeping to a set schedule are hopefully put aside for most people on Saturday.  In Saturday (Little, Brown And Company, October 22, 2019) written and illustrated by Caldecott Honor Medalist (Thank You, Omu) Oge Mora, readers understand the true worth of this day.  More importantly, through this composition of meticulously chosen words and a signature collage style, we connect on a personal and emotional level with this girl and her mother during their shared hours on this Saturday.

This morning Ava and her mother were all smiles.  It was SATURDAY!

Ava's mother was committed to her job on the other six days of the week, but Saturday, each and every one, was for Ava and her mother.  They loved this day!  On Saturday they could go to the public library for storytime, go to the beauty salon for new hairdos, and enjoy a quiet picnic in the park.

This Saturday was more highly anticipated then most.  They had tickets for a puppet show only being performed once on this particular day.  Their hearts were full of joy as they left their home to begin their expected adventures.  BUT . . .

For every one of their planned stops, there were surprises.  To begin storytime at the public library was cancelled.  Mother and daughter had a routine they performed to deal with setbacks.  It was three steps.  With those completed, they continued with hope.

With three disappointments behind them they arrived, finally, at the puppet show.  Something important was forgotten.  As her mother voiced her failure in defeat, Ava did what they always did.  She then uttered the most loving words anyone wishes to hear.  At home without the library, beauty salon, park or theater, Ava and her mother created their own happiness.


The first time reading the words written by Oge Mora, I could feel my eyes welling with tears.  She brings us into the story initially by binding us to what we know.  We know about working five or more days a week.  We know about the significance of being able to share hours with people we love when we are not working or going to school.  She further elevates the anticipation by telling us what Ava and her mother are going to do.

Repetition of three key phrases before and then after each disappointment stress the meaning of this day to a parent and her daughter.  It establishes a storytelling cadence as does the three steps they perform after their unsuccessful visits to the library, beauty salon, park and theater.  The placement of dialogue within the narrative makes it more intimate for readers. Here is a passage.

WHOOOSHH!

. . .their hairdos were ruined.

"Oh no!" Ava sobbed.
"Our dos!" boo-hooed Ava's mother. (page turn)

They paused, closed their eyes,
and---whew---let out a deep breath. . . .  


The front of the dust jacket displays the total bliss Ava and her mother feel on any given Saturday, but especially this Saturday.  And I ask you, don't we all feel this way on Saturday?  Their hearts brimming with happiness are seen in their expressions and body movements.  The chosen color palette is soothing but conveys utter elation.

To the left, on the back, the pale green shade on the front crosses over the spine and becomes the canvas.  In a circle around one of the most touching lines in the story, we see Ava and her mother in four positions signifying their intended activities.  On the book case Oge Mora has used textured paper in purple, almost like the cover of an album.  In the center on the front is a photographic representation of Ava and her mother.  It is held in place by two pieces of tape.

The opening and closing endpapers feature off to the side a piece of paper with the word NOTES at the top.  Ava has listened the highlights of her Saturday Wish list.  Opposite this list is a thirty-day calendar.  Ava has crossed out each day from the 1st to the 29th.  She has labeled some of the activities that happened during the month particularly on Saturdays.  On this Saturday, the 30th,  puppet show!!! is written in crayon.  She has placed a gold star there.

In an About This Book section Oge Mora states:

The collages for this book were created with acrylic paint, china markers, patterned paper, and old-book clippings.

She begins her visual story on the double-page picture for the title page.  Ava's mother stands in her bedroom doorway, holding a cup of a steaming beverage as Ava gets out of bed.  With each page turn we find ourselves enchanted by double-page pictures, a group of four small images over two pages, full-page pictures, and single page pictures with wide framing around carefully created artwork.  The shift in background colors indicates the emotional state of the characters perfectly.

One of my many, many favorite pictures is when Ava and her mother, with their beautiful new hairdos, are leaving the beauty salon.  They are nearly dancing down the street they are so thrilled with how they look and feel.  Both have their eyes closed in contentment with their arms outstretched and one of their legs raised.  Careful readers will note, however, the placement of a large puddle right in front of Ava and close to the edge of the sidewalk.


Every emotional up and down in this book Saturday written and illustrated by Oge Mora, has been experienced by readers of all ages. What we can appreciate are the expressions of love between this parent and child.  We might all want to start making a Saturday wish list and having a routine in place when faced with disappointment.  This book is all about finding a silver lining when it appears as if there is none.  I highly recommend this title for your personal and professional collections.

To discover more about Oge Mora and her other work, please follow the link attached to her name to access her website.  Oge Mora has accounts on Instagram and Twitter.  At the publisher's website is a wonderful video chatting with Oge Mora about one image, a double-page picture, in this title.  Oge Mora is showcased at School Library Journal, We Need Diverse Books and at author, reviewer and blogger Julie Danielson's site, Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast talking about this title.  If you would like to hear a bit of the book read aloud visit this link posted by HatchetteAudio.

Maybe A Mermaid Blog Tour

There is no better way to welcome those first days of spring than to highlight a debut author.  Today Josephine Cameron is stopping by Librarian's Quest as a guest to chat with us about her book, Maybe a Mermaid.   She shares with us the inspiration for seeking a True Blue Friend.  Welcome, Josephine.


What inspired the idea for a "true-blue" friend?

When I started writing Maybe a Mermaid, I knew I wanted to write about a lonely girl who is looking for a friend.  As I developed the character of 11-year-old Anthoni Gillis, who has had a hard time finding friends because she is constantly the new girl, I thought a lot about the types of friendship we look for in our lives.

When I was a kid, I longed for a certain kind of friendship.  The Anne and Diana (or Emily and Ilse), Frog/Toad, Wilbur/Charlotte kind.  I knew from an early age that there's a difference between a friend (someone you like and hang out with) and a kindred spirit (someone who sees the inner strengths that no one else sees, and who understands your deepest flaws and loves you anyway).  A true friend was a friend for life, no matter what ups and downs, fights, or distance got in the way.  

I remember being Anthoni's age and realizing that some friends I'd thought were true were only true on the surface.  And that others were truer than I'd known---only I wasn't looking in the right direction.  I think sometimes we can try so hard to fit people into our idea of who we think they are or who we want them to be, that we're willing to go to great lengths to change our own perceptions of reality.

In Maybe a Mermaid, Anthoni struggles with all of this.  More important than finding a True Blue Friend, she has to figure out how to BE one.  Because ultimately, for all of us, that is what opens us up to so many hopeful, magical possibilities.


Thank you, Josephine, for this insightful glimpse into your writing.  Readers can find out more about Anthoni Gillis when Maybe a Mermaid releases on March 26, 2019.  It is published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

You can discover more about Josephine Cameron at her website.  Josephine maintains an account on Twitter.  Josephine chats with another author about her writing and this book at Book Q&As with Deborah Kalb. At the publisher's website you can read an excerpt.

Campaigning For...

Every single person knows what it's like to want something more than anything else in the whole wide world and having parents who completely disagree with this desire.  As far as said parents are concerned, as long as you are living under their roof, this is not going to happen.  Does that stop children from still believing this is a possibility?  It does not.  In fact, they will devote every waking (and sleeping) moment to figuring out how they can make this dream come true.

Most guy and gals, at one time or another have wanted a pet.  For many of them the only pet which will bring them total and complete joy is a dog.  In her debut novel, Vilonia Beebe Takes Charge (A Paula Wiseman Book, Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, March 7, 2017) Kristin L. Gray introduces us to a remarkable girl, not yet ten years old, who is determined to bring a dog into her family.

The day I was born I was four times smaller than the trophy largemouth bass hanging in my daddy's shop.  My entire hand fit on Dr. Lafferty's thumbnail.  Nobody, Mama included, had planned on me arriving three months early.

This is Vilonia Beebe.  She has a twelve-year-old brother named Leon who is more pest than human.  Her all-around great guy dad who can fry the tastiest catfish anyone has ever eaten is a fishing guide.  Her mama is the happy life force of the family but is currently suffering greatly having lost her own mother forty-three days ago.  She rarely leaves her bedroom.

Now, besides her family, Vilonia loves her next-door neighbor and forever friend Ava Claire, a girl with a dancer's heart, softball and Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo.  India Opal's love of Winn-Dixie is the chief reason Vilonia has the Great Pet Campaign fully operational though for the time being not too successful.  This is all about to change because of Eleanor Roosevelt.

No, this is not the dearly departed first lady and wife of President Franklin Roosevelt.  Eleanor Roosevelt is a fine egg-laying chicken, the pride of the Willoughby family.  You should also know the Willoughby twins, Rory and Ransom, friends of Leon, are charming, handsome and pranksters of the highest order.  (The family also owns the local fireworks business.)

On the way to her opening softball game for her pitching debut, Vilonia rescues Eleanor from a hit-and-run accident.  After delivering her to the local vet, she notices a sign there proclaiming the benefits of owning a dog, especially for those people feeling blue.  Click.  Now Vilonia has even more reason to have a dog.  She needs to bring her loving mama out of her sadness.

Miss Bettina is the editor of the local newspaper and Vilonia's mama's boss.  Her mama writes the obituaries for the paper; well, she did until forty-three days ago.  Her mama thinks Miss Bettina has been writing them.  We readers discover who is really writing them.

Obituaries, puppies, stink bombs, Mr. Reyes, the school librarian, the library goldfish, Max, Ray Charles, spring break, sour cream pound cake, Viking funerals, Miss Hazel Sogbottom, the vet's assistant, and the Howard County's 47th Annual Catfish Festival are all ingredients in an amazing quest to demonstrate responsibility.  You will laugh out loud, cheer and fall in love with the characters in this book (even Miss Bettina) as they shape Vilonia's world in Howard County, Mississippi.  The conclusion will lift your soul like a balloon on a gentle breeze and fill your heart with happiness.

Kristin L. Gray writes with such clarity and description you will read this with a Southern accent in your mind.  (In fact, I am thinking with a Southern accent as I write this blog post.)  Told through Vilonia's point of view the story is intimately tied to readers.  We connect with Vilonia's thoughts.  We understand all the characters' personalities through the conversations.  We feel as though we are members of the community in which they all live.

The narrative flows flawlessly from one moment to the next with true-to-life emotions and events.  Gray ties all of the life threads from other characters' lives into a beautiful blend.  Here are some sample passages.

"It's a perfect day to play ball!" I held my arms out to the sun, and a cool breeze brushed my face.  It was the Thursday afternoon before spring break.  Nana loved spring.  "Nana would love today."

"She sure would, Tadpole.  She loved to watch you play." Daddy reached into the cab of his truck and tossed my lucky glove my way.  I snatched it midair and ran my fingers across its smooth leather.

"And what about Mama?" I asked, and stabbed the dirt with my toe.  "Think she'll feel like coming?"

Daddy's eyes changed from sunny to cloudy with a chance of rain.  "The forecast changes daily when it comes to Mama, Vi.  But I can ask.  You know she's your biggest fan."

"I know."  I tried to hide my disappointment.  I knew Daddy was doing his absolute best to take care of us, Mama included.  But I've learned grief has no rules.  She'll make herself at home, eat all your best snacks, sleep in your bed, and no matter what you do or say, sometimes nothing on earth can make her leave.


Ava Claire was all ruffles and tutus and sparkly dance shoes---everything I wasn't.  I'd played softball since I could swing a bat, but Ava Claire wasn't interested the minute she laid her brown eyes on those "ugly spiked shoes."  She's rather twirl onstage in scratchy sequins under one thousand-watt lights.  Yeah, we went together like toothpaste and orange juice, but if anyone tried picking on either one of us, we stuck together like gum to a shoe.


I looked to the back of the bus, hoping to catch Rory's eye, but Mr. Danny, our bus driver who's older than dirt but somehow still has his driver's license, came over the loud speaker.

"I need everyone to listen up and sit down.  I've survived two hurricanes, a wife, and a war.  I'm getting y'all to school safe and sound.  Ya' hear?


There is so much laughter, life and love in Vilonia Beebe Takes Charge written by Kristin L. Gray you will read it in one sitting and eagerly start it all over again.  After reading several pages aloud to a group of third grade students, hands went in the air to be the first to read it cover to cover.  This would make for a great read aloud.  Make sure you have a copy for your personal and professional bookshelves.

You are going to enjoy visiting Kristin L. Gray's website by following the link attached to her name.  The information she shares is like sitting down to chat with her one on one.  There is a special post at Scholastic's Ambassador of School Libraries John Schumacher's blog, Watch. Connect. Read., to celebrate the cover reveal.  Kristin is interviewed at author Wendy McLeod MacKnight's site, Tuesday Writers,  author Patricia Bailey's site, and author Melissa Roske's site.

Just Enough To Change Everything

There are those books even as you are reading them, you know without a doubt you want to read them again.  The aura in which you were enveloped as you turn each page, even when you are finished, stays with you weeks and months later.  Words coined by the author insert themselves into your daily vocabulary, more descriptive somehow than others.  Using these words not only expresses more eloquently how you feel in a given situation, but brings back the essence of the book.

These books reveal themselves to you sometimes as early as the dedication page.  When I read this dedication,

FOR MOM, DAD,
BRIDGETT, AND CHASE
I LOVE YOU MORE
THAN ALL THE WORDS
IN THE WORLD.

I realized without reading a single sentence this author loves using language; this author uses words like a composer uses notes to create sensational sounds.  This book was going to sing its way right into my heart.  And it did.  A Snicker of Magic (Scholastic Press, February 25, 2014) a first novel by author Natalie Lloyd is a book to relish, savoring every single page.

"They say all the magic is gone up out of this place," said Mama.
She looked straight ahead as she drove, past the white beam of our headlights, deep into the night, like she could see exactly what was up ahead of us. I couldn't see anything, though: not a house, not a store, not even an old barking dog.  A big fat moon, pale white and lonesome looking, was our only streetlight.

Felicity Juniper Pickle, her younger sister Frannie Jo, their dog Biscuit and her mama are arriving in the town of Midnight Gulch. The two girls are hoping their mama will stay put here for a spell; they've been in six different states.  Another first day of school, this time at Stoneberry Elementary, has them both a little on edge.  To ease Frannie Jo's jitters, Felicity catches a poem for her, reciting it aloud as they walk down the hallway the next morning.

What you have to understand is Felicity can literally see words in the most glorious colors and shapes around people and things; out of thin air.  No one else has this gift as far as she knows.  She is a collector of words; gifted and unique.  This ability gives her insight into people and their actions.

On that first day Miss Divinity Lawson, Felicity's homeroom teacher, tells a powerful story about a magical duel between the Weatherly brothers, Stone and Berry.  To commemorate this face-off, which has a less than happy ending for everyone, she announces a new duel, a sharing of talent, on September 15.  A cryptic note leads Felicity to a new friend, Jonah Pickett, a boy in her class with his own particular powers and a secret identity.

Midnight Gulch holds wonders other than people with uncommon understandings.  It's home to Dr. Zook's Ice Cream, forty-five scrumptious flavors, with an exceedingly special one called Blackberry Sunrise.  Made with wild blackberries grown near Snapdragon Pond this delight can stir up peoples' memories, happy and sad.  You'll never guess who the current owner of the ice cream company is either but that's part of the pleasure of reading this story, everything and everyone are linked together by the mystery and the magic.

A cast of lovable but extraordinary characters people the pages; Holly, Felicity's wandering mother, filled with sadness and the ability to create beautiful paintings, Cleo, Felicity's aunt, giver of sage, no-nonsense advice and maker of quilts, Day Grissom, school bus driver who gave his heart away many years ago, Boone, Felicity's musician uncle, recently returned home, Florentine, a weaver of stories and a keeper of history, Jonah's mom, owner of Jewell Pickett's Lube & Dye (Can you believe it?  She has a beauty salon and a car shop.), Ponder Waller, maker of pie's not only tasting good but with marvelous qualities, Rosie Walker, guitar-playing singer, Virgil the weatherman, who's always right and the woman who loved and was loved in return by the two brothers.  There is also a tattoo appearing and disappearing on people, a curse, bundled burdens and a search for a perfect memory.  Most important of all there is love, an abundance of love.

Felicity and Jonah, their friendship growing ever stronger, work diligently toward seeking solutions, finding connections and awakening the remarkable possibilities just under the surface in Midnight Gulch.  Time is running out.  Will a snicker of magic be enough?


I believe Natalie Lloyd has more than a snicker of magic coursing through her being; yes indeed.  This woman has a heart beating to the same pulse as word weavers, tellers of tales, and those bringing stories to people back for generations deeply rooted in the oral tradition.  Her portrayals of people, places and events are breathtaking.  As a reader you find yourself constantly and consistently pausing to close your eyes picturing in your mind's eye what you have read.

Her characters, each and every one, main and secondary all play an important part in the intricate workings of her narrative.  Conversations ring true to the traits of each.  Our world needs more people like Felicity Juniper Pickle willing to work the magic of their particular gift so others may find their true happiness; a sense of belonging found in home and family.  Here are three of thirty passages I have marked in my book.

Mama's fingers clutched knuckle-white around the steering wheel again.  But she kept on telling:
"They could play a song and it would echo through the whole town, and everybody in town, no matter where they were stood up and danced."
She cleared her throat. "They say some people glowed in the dark.  And some people faded when they were sad---first they went colorless, then totally invisible.  There are so many stories..."
"And this magic town is the same town where you grew up?" I asked.
She nodded.
"Then why the hayseed would you ever leave a place like that?"

Desks squeaked and popped as people leaned up in their seats, trying to get as close as they could to the story Miss Lawson was telling.  If the right person tells a story, I guess it doesn't matter how many times you've heard it.  Your heart still hears it brand-new.  And Miss Lawson was an A+ storyteller.

The way he said her name made my heart cramp.  In all my years of word collecting, I've learned this to be a tried and true fact:  I can very often tell how much a person loves another person by the way they say their name.  I think that's one of the best feelings in the world, when you know your name is safe in another person's mouth.  When you know they'll never shout it out like a cuss-word, but say it or whisper it like a once-upon-a time.


If you haven't read A Snicker of Magic by Natalie Lloyd read it...read it now.  If you've already read it, read it again.  I did today.  When I finished it tears came to my eyes because of the sheer beauty of the telling.  It's a very important book destined to be a classic.

Please follow the link embedded in Natalie Lloyd's name to her blog.  The links here and here take you to Scholastic's dedicated pages for this title.  This link is to educator, Beth Shaum's blog, A Foodie Bibliophile in Wanderlust, where she interviews Natalie Lloyd.

To Go Or To Stay

Fiction is a bridge, a path, a window, a door and an invitation taking us to the past and the future, into the possible and the improbable, providing heart-pounding action, puzzles to ponder and scary thrills and chills.  We meet people from all walks of life, of all ages.  Creatures, real or imagined come and go; some are silent, others speak freely.

True-to-life, realistic, fiction gives us a chance to "walk a mile in someone else's shoes" building empathy or to see a reflection of ourselves helping us to not feel alone.  Readers know when storytelling is at its finest, coming from the pages of a book to surround them; the attachment strong and sure.  In her debut novel, One For The Murphys (Nancy Paulsen Books, Penguin Books for Young Readers, May 2012) Lynda Mullaly Hunt gives her readers that kind of compelling story peopled with unforgettable characters.

 Sitting in the back of the social worker's car, I try to remember how my mother has always said to never show your fear.  She'd be disappointed to see me now.  Shaking.  Just going without a fight.

Carley Connors has learned to be pretty tough (at least on the outside) and self-reliant having spent the twelve years of her life with her mom in Las Vegas.  They've recently moved to Connecticut staying in her late grandfather's condo along with her abusive step-father of 384 days.  Against her own better judgment Carley begins slinging verbal taunts his way one evening which lands both she and her mother in the hospital.  Carley leaves to stay in foster care. Her mother stays too badly injured to leave.

Living with the Murphy family is almost too good to be true.  The two youngest of the three boys, redheaded Adam and little Michael Eric welcome Carley into their lives easily; inviting her to join in their play and loving her superhero games with them.  Mrs. Murphy, Julie, the anchor of the family, offers Carley, a rare kindness, understanding and gentleness she has never known.

All is not smooth sailing though.  Daniel, the oldest, near her age, wishes she would leave feeling unsettled by all the attention she is receiving.  A fire chief, spending most of his days and some nights at the firehouse, Mr. Murphy wants what is best for his family.  He is unsure about her presence in his home.

As days stretch into weeks again and again Carley is struck by the contrasts of living with this family, attending middle school and making a best friend to the only life she has ever known with her mother.  She is torn between the past and loyalty and the love she is receiving and yes, beginning to give in return.  And Carley hides secrets; a secret about the night she was beaten and the secret of her foster care from her classmate.

As her mother's health improves she makes a request of Carley intensifying her inner conflicts even more.  She is going to be forced to make a decision she does not want to make. Fortified by support from her steadfast Broadway musical-loving friend, Toni, and the unconditional love of Mrs. Murphy, Carley begins to acknowledge her true strengths, coming to the realization she never has to settle for second best.  She, Carley Connors, holds the key to her future.  She has, she can and she will be someone's hero.


Within fifty chapters, through Carley's voice and thoughts we enter her life, completely and without reservation.  We experience her personal turmoil laughing at her witty jokes (sometimes made to hide her hurt), feeling her fears and crying when her heart breaks.  Through dialogue so real it breathes each of the other characters come alive before our eyes.  It is Carley's interaction with each of them and they with each other that raises this story to its memorable status.  Lynda Mullaly Hunt uses no extra words; every word counts, giving meaning to the moment.  Here are a couple of the many passages I marked in this book.

He pauses and says, "I whaled him, Mommy, but he deserved it."
I think that it's funny to have "whaled him" and "Mommy" in the same sentence, and I decide that I like Adam.
She tilts her head. "What have we said about this?"
"I'm supposed to protect him 'cause he's my brother."
"That's right.  Brothers stick together, right? Family looks out for family."
I stand in a place with no space.
My stomach has such a longing in it that I want to throw up.
The tone, the look on her face and the look on his, a gentle brush of his hair.
A kiss on top of the head. I struggle to decipher a foreign language.  She's looking at him like she's seeing the best thing ever. Even though he's done something wrong.


And that's the thing.  Most of the time, it wasn't like my mother told me I was anything---good or bad.  But when Mrs. Murphy tells me I'm smart, I am.  When she tells me I'm funny, I am.  When she tells me how thoughtful I am, I become that way.  I swear, if she told me I was a duck, I'd be checking in my high tops for webbed feet.


One For The Murphys written by Lynda Mullaly Hunt is one of the most powerful books I have ever read about foster care and family.  Having read it twice I can say with all honesty with each reading the story and characters grow in richness.  Flawed but fearless in their fondness, love, for one another each person will linger in your mind.

To discover more about Lynda Mullaly Hunt follow the link embedded in her name above.  Here is a link to a teacher's guide she developed for this title.  Below is the book trailer and an interesting and amazing video interview.  Here is a link to another interview Lynda Mullaly Hunt gave at Cynsations.