Giving Wings To Hope

From beginning to end every moment is captivating.  The characters, compelling in every respect, embody all that is right and good and true and shades of the opposite, too.  There are many places in our world literally mirroring the book's setting of mountains and mining, dense forests and valleys with rivers. At the same time these places and scores of other locations are figuratively identical in having the Dust, yellow-eyed monsters, and feeling the absence and silence of riders and weavers of light.  When you complete a captivating title with compelling characters in a scene similar to your own, or one you can easily visualize, heightened with elements of possibility, you can't turn the pages fast enough.  When you are done, the sense of triumph is so complete and sincere, you have no choice.  You must read it again. . .immediately.  And you do.

Upon the second reading, you pause and place small markers at sentences and paragraphs, profound and timeless.  Even though you know the characters, setting and plot, your sensory experience is still exquisite.  At the end, you have tears in your eyes, again.  This is the experience readers will have when reading the latest title, Over the Moon (Scholastic Press, March 26, 2019) written by Natalie Lloyd.

Once there was a girl brave enough
to draw a question mark in the
dust that covered her heart.

1
Mallie Ramble

Dustflights are trained to sense explosions in the Down 
Below.
Honeysuckle is my papa's Dustflight, a tiny yellow bird they give every miner in Coal Top.  When I was a little girl, Honeysuckle brought me heaps of comfort as I watched Papa walk to the mines.  I couldn't go with him to the Down Below.  But our brave yellow bird could.  She perched like a speck of plump sunshine on his shoulder.

For people living in Coal Top, on the tip of Forgotten Mountain, life is a daily drudgery of survival either working in the gold mines for boys and men or for girls and women, toiling as servants for the rich people in Windy Valley.  Twelve-year-old Mallie Ramble has completed her week's work only to be paid for two days, two Feathersworth. (Mrs. Tumbrel can do whatever she desires.)  Her oldest son, Honor Tumbrel, an entitled bully, has left more work for Mallie but also given her, and us, a hint of things to come.

Before Mallie hurries to the train platform for the ride back home, a little bit of miracle floats through an open window at the Tumbrel house.  It's a flat piece of something special, vibrant with tiny rays of color, a Starpatch.  Before the Dust settled and covered the sky, mountain people wove starlight like threads on a loom into cloth which they fashioned into all sorts of things.  This cloth gave people a sense of strength, calm and above all, hope.  There are no more weavers because there are no more stars.

Denver Ramble, Mallie's seven-year-old brother has ridden the train down to meet her.  On the hour ride back to the top, she tells him the story of the Starbirds, large wild horses with enormous wings, that used to carry weavers to the stars every night.  This was before the Dust.  This was before Dustblobs hung in trees and fell on people sucking out everything good in their hearts until they healed.  This was when Forgotten Mountain was called Bright Mountain.  This was when people were still allowed to sing.  This was before monsters with yellow eyes and shaped like nightmares roamed and slithered through the woods at night.

That evening, a terrified Mallie and Denver hide in the loft as Guardians storm into their home.  They are demanding Denver work in the mines unless the family can pay four thousand Feathersworth they owe in debt.  They have only seven days to pay it in full.  (Mallie's father is blind from an accident and he also lost his voice in the mines.)

The next morning, a flyer Honor Tumbrel left in his clothing for Mallie to wash, gives her an idea which could save her family.  She meets a childhood friend of her age, Adam Peyton, with the same flyer and idea.  Together they gather with other boys (boys only and orphans preferred) in the West Woods.  Initially the head Guardian, Mortimer Good, tells them they are to gather gold from the tops of mountains in the surrounding ranges.  These mountains are impossible to climb.  Initially he hands them only a rope and tells them to go into the woods, the woods full of monsters.  Mallie has to do this.  Each completed mission equals one thousand Feathersworth.

What the brave boys and Mallie discover in the woods is the key to the-better-than-best thing.  Mallie's new companion, and the other boys who stay with their companions, face danger beyond anything they can have imagined.  There is treachery among them.  The bond Mallie forges with her companion and her increasing skill regardless of her handicap (She's missing her right arm and hand below her elbow.) spread confidence in her mind and hope in her heart until . . . a sinister evil is revealed.  Chapter by chapter danger, hope and malevolent deeds clash until a breathtaking conclusion leaves you feeling like you are sitting beneath a cascade of fireworks.  Sometimes the hero you and everyone else needs is you.  Who will tell the tale you live?


When Natalie Lloyd writes, you want to step into her worlds.  Even when aspects of fantasy enter the story, you find yourself accepting it as real.  You expect to look up and see a Starpatch floating on the wind.  You expect to hear a noise outside your window because a Starbird wants to go for a midnight ride.  Improbable is not a word ever to be associated with a Natalie Lloyd book.

The dialogue between the characters paints pictures of their personalities.  Her mountain people have fierce loyalties and form friendships for life.  Their love places others first.

Each moment is descriptively described in distinct details.  We are there with the characters.  Here are some passages.

As the night, and the cold, presses in around us, the train circles slowly toward the town on the tip of Forgotten Mountain:  Coal Top.  I always imagine this train looking like a big steel snake.
Hissing as it climbs.
Bright eyes beaming into the darkness.
And we're all here stuck in the belly of the beast . . .
The night wind howls as it blows against the steel.  A lantern swings from the ceiling at the front of our train car, sending firelight flickers across our faces with every jolt.

And then I see it! Close to the ground, I see yellow eyes . . .two beady, bright yellow eyes with black slits in the center.  The eyes are fixed on me.  And they tilt, just slightly, as if the face belonging to those eyes is smiling. 
Delightedly.
I back against the tree and slink to the ground.  Cold sweat trickles down my face.  My whole body shakes, fiercely.
I will never make it out of here.  I'll never get out of the West Woods.  I'll never get to tell Mama, Papa, and Denver how much I love them.  Not to their faces, anyway.
" I love you Denver," I whisper.  Fear has flattened most of my voice, but I had to get those words out.  And I hope they float to him like a dream, like a Starpatch, one he can keep forever to think about me.
Suddenly, the air above me is shattered by wild flapping, a sound like quilts snapping against the wind.
Huge quilts.
Boom.
Something lands on the ground, shaking the earth all around me.

"I'm not finished!" Iggy jabs her finger at her chest, like she's pointing to her heart.  "The name my papa gave me was Iggy Thump.  He also called me brave and smart and wonderful.  So, Iggy means all that to me.  So you can call me crabby if you want, Mallie-girl.  You might be crabby, too, if you were missing somebody like I am.  I don't care what you call me.  Because love told me who I am.  That's all I have to say to you."


Over the Moon written by Natalie Lloyd addresses the need for all of us to not stop questioning; to believe there is something more than---We can only live the stories we're given.  It's about courage, hope and love in all its many forms.  It's about the strength of belief and making magic whenever we can, as often as we can.  The dust jacket illustration by artist Gilbert Ford extends from the front back over the spine to the left, showing the expanse of the mountain range, the monsters, woods and homes.  Careful readers will notice the addition of a roaring fire in the lower, left-hand corner.  On the book case Mallie and the winged horse are embossed on the front in the lower, right-hand corner of a lavender color.  The spine is yellow with the text in blue.  On the opening and closing endpapers readers see words, wish, shine, love, dream, gallop, sparkle, soar, and hope, in white and light blue on blue.  I highly recommend this title for your personal and professional book collections.

To learn more about Natalie Lloyd and her other work, please follow the link attached to her name to access her website.  Natalie has an older blog here.  It's full of her earlier writing and musings.  Natalie Lloyd has accounts on Instagram and Twitter.  The cover reveal by teacher librarian Matthew Winner is here.  At the publisher's website you can read an excerpt and listen to about six minutes of the audio book.  Enjoy the preview.

Far From Ordinary

More than thirty years ago a tale was told which found a place in my repertoire of spooky stories.  It's about an ordinary town, much like our (your) town, where an ordinary family lives.  The parents are ordinary as are their children.  They live in an ordinary house on an ordinary street lined with other ordinary houses.  BUT...

The extraordinary thing about this family and their home is it's right next door to the local cemetery.  At this point listeners lean in a little closer, making a tighter circle.  This is exactly what we do when we're hooked on a good book.   We lean into the story by wrapping ourselves literally in a cozy blanket and figuratively let the characters, setting and narrative envelope us.

Today time stood still as I entered the anything-but-ordinary world found within the pages of The Key to Extraordinary (Scholastic Press, February 23, 2016).  As in her debut book, A Snicker of Magic, two years ago, this story takes us on a remarkable journey.  Along the paths in which Natalie Lloyd leads us we feel our hearts grow stronger and larger as her words feed familiar and hidden needs.

It is a known fact that the most extraordinary moments in a person's life come disguised as ordinary days.
It is a known fact for me, at least. 
Because that morning started out mostly the same as all mornings before: I woke up to an ache in my chest, the smell of chocolate and the sound of the ghost making a racket in the kitchen.

There is no ghost in the kitchen when twelve-year-old Emma Pearl Casey gets to the bottom of the stairs.  It's gone but her college age brother Topher is stirring up a batch of the famous family beverage, Boneyard Brew, in the Cocoa Cauldron.  She and her brother live with their Granny Blue in the rooms above their bakery, Boneyard Cafe, in a town called Blackbird Hollow.  The ache in her chest, the Big Empty, has been there since her mother died.  They are joined within minutes by Bearclaw, Bear, her small rescue dog.

Emma steps outside on the back porch to begin her day giving tours through the Blackbird Hollow Cemetery which happens to be spread before her.  (Yes, readers, the graveyard and her backyard are one and the same.)  As people pass through the gates we are introduced to the townspeople and those extra special to Emma, her Uncle Periwinkle and Aunt Greta.  A stranger appears, Waverly Valentine, who asks about the most famous ghost in Blackbird Hollow, The Conductor.  According to local legend, The Conductor appears and sings if summoned by someone pure in heart.  In the dead of night words in the melody tell of a treasure hidden hundreds of years ago.  Scores of people have hunted for this wealth; some to never return.

There are some more things you need to know about Emma and the rare wonderful people living in Blackbird Hollow.  Emma is next in a long line of remarkable women, The Wildflowers, who each have had a Destiny Dream; a field of blue flowers appears holding an item signifying their life's path.  They record their dream and how events unfold in the Book of Days.  Tall spirited Cody Belle Chitwood is Emma's very best friend, through thick and thin.  A third person returns to town, Earl Chase, who has not talked since a horrific experience with a tornado.

Throughout the days in Blackbird Hollow complete with the dancing and singing jamboree nights at the cafe, a dark cloud comes to rest over Emma, Topher and Granny Blue.  There is one who would take away everything important to them, a villain of the worst sort.  The arrival of her Destiny Dream gives Emma an answer but it's not clear what she needs to do.  With the help of her friends, a ghost, the promise she made to her mother, a Gypsy rose summer and a frightening storm, true treasures are discovered and a dreamed destiny takes shape.


When Natalie Lloyd writes you have to remind yourself to breathe.  Her small town characters live their lives generously, even the one who rarely smiles.  The conversations between the adults and the adults and the children are as real as rain. They accept the possibility of ghosts in their graveyard, feeling The Touch and the blooming of flowers in every season of the year.  They find joy whenever they can despite the hardships they may face.  Where else but Blackbird Hollow will you find a grandmother with tattoos who used to be a boxer and still rides a motorcycle.

The descriptions of the locations in and around the town are so vivid; you'll find yourself planning your next vacation as a trip to Tennessee.  The graveyard with the names on the headstones, the forbidden portion of the cemetery, the Thicket, the Wailing Woods, the mountains and fields, are steeped in history and mystery.  The weather, wind, rain, thunder and lightning, add to the atmosphere.

One of the other things which will have you either grabbing a highlighter or using an entire package of sticky notes is how Natalie Lloyd chooses her words.  They are somewhat alliterative; Blackbird Hollow, Boneyard Cafe, Granny Blue, Wailing Woods and Destiny Dreams.  If you were to read this book aloud you will be inclined to sing at times.  Here are some sample passages.

I made my way through the kitchen door and onto the back porch.  The screen door slapped shut behind me, and I stared out over the dreamy-morning world.  The dark night had already faded to a pretty pale blue at the horizon.  A cool wind prickled my skin and rustled the branches of the big oak in the center of the field.  The leaves made a sound that reminded me of breath, which was kind of strange considering all that lay before me.  As far as I could see, the headstones and statues of Blackbird Hollow Cemetery peeked up from the mist.

The book spine crackled underneath my fingertips when I opened it.  It sounded like my spine when I first wake up and stretch in the morning, and I wondered if it was possible for a book to come alive that same way.  To tell you things.  To change the course of your days.

The sadness was heavy in Blue's voice when she answered. "Don't know if we can hold out that long."
"Do you remember what Mama said about fear?" I asked.  "She said fear is just a flashlight that helps you find your courage."
Blue rested her hand on my shoulder.  "Well, she knew a thing or two about courage.  That's for sure.  She was a brave lady."
"We are all brave ladies," I said.  "We're Wildflowers."

My book after I finished reading it today.  

My copy of The Key to Extraordinary written by Natalie Lloyd is brimming with sticky notes.  You will find yourself reading portions of it again and again.  You will find yourself reciting phrases aloud to listen to the music they create.  We can never have too many true friends, love or hope.  It's all here, springing forth and spreading outward like the flowers in Blackbird Hollow.

You will want to learn more about Natalie Lloyd.  You can do this by following the link attached to her name taking you to her website.  She has a blog linked here. At TeachingBooks.net she talks about both her books reading excerpts from each of them.  She also talks about the pronunciation of her name.  The artist who designed the cover for this book, Gilbert Ford, has an interesting post about the process here.  Enjoy the trailer created by Scholastic Book Fairs.  

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.