The Midwife's Apprentice

I decided to continue reading quality, older books this month. The Midwife's Apprentice by Karen Cushman was published in 1995. It won the Newberry Medal in 1996. This book is fantastic! It's a feel-good, root-for-the-under-dog, historically unique tale.

The story is about a homeless girl with no name in medieval times. She is found in a dung heap by a midwife. The girl becomes the midwife's apprentice and is called Beetle, as in dung beetle. The midwife is greedy and unkind, but Beetle appreciates having a roof over her head and food in her belly. As Beetle gains confidence, she begins to watch the midwife in order to learn the trade. Beetle adopts a real name for herself, Alyce. When Alyce's midwife skills are put to the test, she fails and runs away. After many months, Alyce decides to go back to the midwife to become her apprentice again. In the process, she learns about courage and determination.

This book is interesting and a quick read. I highly recommend it to 5th or 6th graders.

The Whipping Boy

Most children gravitate to recently published books. I have to admit, I do too. Books published in the last decade are great, but there are a few oldies that should not be overlooked due to age. Just because a book was published over 20 years ago, doesn't mean that it's outdated.

The Whipping Boy by Sid Fleischman was published in 1986. It won the Newbery Medal in 1987. And it deserved it! This book is funny, unique, and timeless.

The story is about a naughty prince. He is known in his kingdom as Prince Brat. However, this bratty prince cannot be spanked when he misbehaves. So, the prince has a whipping boy, named Jemmy. This is literally a poor orphan who gets whipped when the prince is naughty. Both boys want out of the castle as soon as possible and run away together . . . sort-of. Jemmy tries to ditch the prince the entire time, but is unable to lose him. They meet crazy characters along the way and each develop respect and admiration for one another.

This book is quick witted and an easy read. I recommend this book to second or third graders. It's a fun book with a unique plot and a timeless theme.

Publishing News

I am excited to share that I have two picture books being published soon by Gold Quill, a publishing company in England. Both books are adapted fables. The first book is called A Man, A Boy, and A Donkey. The second book is called The Boy Who Cried Wolf. My books will be added to a series of adapted fables. Click this link to view the series.
www.goldquill.co.uk
The series has excellent illustrations and I'm excited to be a part of what they're doing.

The Secret Life of Bees

The Secret Life of Bees, by Sue Monk Kidd, is a mid-grade novel about a girl named Lily, growing up in the south in the 1960s. It is an exceptional story about dealing with tragedy, guilt, and forgiveness.

Lily Owens is a fourteen-year-old girl, living with her abusive father on a peach farm in South Carolina. Lily's mother died when Lily was four years old in a tragic accident that Lily caused. One day, Lily's "stand-in-mother," Rosaleen, gets wrongfully arrested and beaten in jail by racists. Lily fears for Rosaleen's life and busts her out of prison. Lily and Rosaleen flee to Tiburon, South Carolina to a bee keeper's home. A place that Lily is sure her mother once visited. Through the wisdom and patience of the beekeeper, named August, Lily deals with her tragic past and blossoms like a beautiful flower.

Sue Monk Kidd skillfully paints a picture of life in the south in the 1960s. She also captures the voice of a budding teenager very well. I enjoyed reading this story and had trouble putting it down.

I recommend this book to teenage girls and women of all ages.

Dewey

Dewey, by Vicki Myron with Bret Witter, is an adorable nonfiction book about a small-town public library in Spencer, Iowa. This book is written for adults, but is appropriate for any age reader.

The story begins with a kitten being abandoned in a public library drop box. The staff and town adopt the kitten as their library cat. They name him Dewey Readmore Books.

Dewey is a perfect library cat. He loves people and has instincts that guide him to the library patrons that need him the most. The town and its people suffer many loses and tragedies, but Dewey remains a bright spot in their lives throughout it all.

I recommend this book to cat-lovers of any age!

The Summer Tree

The Summer Tree, by Guy Gavriel Kay, is the first book in The Fionavar Tapestry series. This is a YA/Adult book. This book is not for children. That being said, if you are old enough to read this book, I found it to be complex and interesting.

The story begins in our world, in Toronto, Canada. Five college students are lured into traveling to another world, Fionavar, by a man, Silvercloak, from that world. He is a mage and can do magic through his source, Matt, a dwarf. Mages in Fionavar have no power to do magic without their source.

Once in Fionavar, the five college students each learn about Fionavar through separate experiences. Fionavar has a long history of good and evil, gods, goddesses, and kings. The evilest of all the evil in all of the universe was bound beneath a mountain ages ago in Fionavar. This story is about the events leading up to the release of this evil being and how the five college students from Toronto got involved in the saga.

Guy Gavriel Kay's writing style is detailed and rich. His story is epic. I recommend this book to young adults or adults that enjoy detailed fantasy fiction.

Author Visit and Publication

This May I visited a third grade classroom. I talked about the publication process from idea to publication. The kids were very attentive and asked me a lot of great questions about being an author. I enjoyed the visit.

This month, my most recent publication hit the magazine racks. My headband craft is published on page 126 of the June 2011 issue of Crafts n' Things magazine. Check it out!