Hattie On Her Way: A Review and TWO Giveaways!

Congratulations to Linda Phillips. Random.org selected her name to win an audio book off last week's blog.

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Several weeks ago I pulled one of the books I received at Highlight Summer Camp, Hattie on Her Way (Candlewick Press, 2005) off my TBR shelf. Written by my friend and fellow blogger, Clara Gillow Clark, this girls' middle grade novel weaves together some troubling family situations in a very sensitive manner.

The Review

A sequel to Clara's first book, Hill Hawk Hattie, this book opens in April of 1883 with Hattie arriving at her grandmother's house. Right away, the reader hears her voice:

Pa said hawks don't crash into mountains or trees. He said they fly alert, watchful. But suppose a hawk got itself blown off course, ended up somewhere strange, somewhere it didn't rightly belong? Could it find its way home, fly back to its nest in the hills again? (p. 1)

The imagery of hawks and the theme of Hattie yearning for home repeat themselves. Surrounded by secrets, Hattie tries to get used to living with a grandmother she doesn't know in the house where her deceased mother grew up.

If she [Grandmother] thought we were on the same side together, she might share the shadowy secrets of Grandfather, and why the keys had gone missing and the silver was squirreled away, and why she didn't wear black, and where all the furniture and pictures had gone, and why she had hurried Pa away, and mostly why Ma had run off and never come back. It was a powerful lot to find out. And that's why I had to stay here and behave properly, though sitting so close to Grandmother made me even more lonesome for Pa and Jasper and my real home. (p.28)

A young next door neighbor, Ivy Victoria, pretends to befriend her. Ivy doesn't know that Hattie's mother is dead but relays the town rumor that her mother ran off with her father because her Grandmother killed her Grandfather. This theory only lends credence to Hattie's over-active imagination. 

Hattie's relationship with her Grandmother warms up when she sings Hattie the same songs she sang to her mother. That new closeness makes Hattie think,

Somehow I knew it better not to tell Grandmother about Ma's fairies becoming real to her. "Can you hear the fairies in the hemlocks?" Ma would say to me. All I heard was the wind. "See their gossamer wings?" All I saw were rainbows on raindrops or crystals of frost. She would tilt her head and smile. "They wish me to sing and dance with them," she would say. "Will you dance too, Hattie Belle?" The fairy make-believe was mostly enchanting.  But I didn't want to dance about in the clearing with invisible things or answer them like they were asking me questions or telling me what to do." (p. 63)

On the day that Grandmother unlocks her mother's bedroom, the two of them inspect her mother's dollhouse where she made up imaginary fairies rather than played with dolls. When her Grandmother finds little dresses and cloaks that her mother had made,

A sick feeling came over me like we were caught in a blinding snow together, and I shivered. "She sewed little dresses and bonnets for my clothespin dolls," I said. "She just liked to do it, sew dainty things." I reassured myself that Ma's fairy world had been make-believe and enchanting for both of us until just a few months before she died.

"Yes," Grandmother said slowly, thoughtfully as if she'd stumbled onto something a bit troubling and sad.  (p.121)

In the end, Hattie discovers the truth of the mental illness that plagued both her grandfather and her mother. This "madness" is dealt with in a very sensitive manner and enables Hattie to make an important decision. 

Girls in grades 4-6 will enjoy this historical novel. The only scene that may trouble some sensitive readers is a seance towards the end of the book.  

Two Giveaways

Clara is generously sponsoring this give away. The first winner will receive a Hattie doll plus an autographed copy of the book. The runner-up will receive an autographed copy of the book. What are you waiting for? This is a great holiday gift for the younger sister, daughter, niece, or granddaughter in your life! Please leave me a comment by December 8. Share this on the social media of your choice or become a new follower of my blog, and I'll never your name twice. PLEASE leave your email address and tell me what you did.

Moments and Memories: Summer Camp at Highlights Part V

It's been over a month since I've returned from summer camp at Highlights. In this last post I leave you some of my lasting impressions from the week.

When you attend a workshop at Highlights Foundation, this Welcome sign on the Barn will greet you,

as well as a sign on the screen window of your temporary home.

You may stay in one of these cabins

Photo courtesy Judie Anderson Offerdahl 

and will definitely eat wonderful food like this.

What, whip cream again??

You'll probably have a drink or two when schmoozing with your fellow writers before dinner.

Of course, you'll go to classes,

Jillian Sullivan's students appreciating her
presentation of The Hero's Journey.

And yes, there is time to write too.

Photo courtesy Gayle Krause
Pictured: Theresa Milstein and faculty member, Mitali Perkins

There will be time to play,

Photo courtesy Jilanne Hoffman

So many words to choose from!
The Word Garden

It was fun rearranging stones, adding and subtracting.
and creating new sentences and phrases.
Great classroom activity!

time to meet favorite authors,

Clark Gillow Clark and I are Twitter
friends. It was great meeting her in person!

and time to collect autographs.

Enjoyed talking to Lamar Giles who
shared personal stories of colorism after he
heard about Half-Truths

In your cabin you'll find a stuffed bookcase, lovely prints, and NO TV!

Do you see that little black book under the Native American picture? That's a journal where past residents leave their thoughts for future workshop participants. This will be fun to read and if you're fortunate, there will even be an encouraging entry from someone special. 

You will leave with a pile of books like this.

And when you return home, you'll receive a wonderful memento of your time at Highlights.

If you write or illustrate for children or aspire to do that one day, do whatever it takes to attend a Highlights workshop. You will be glad you did. 

And when you go, make sure you tell them that THE Carol Baldwin sent you.

Hill Hawk Hattie and a Giveaway!

Hill Hawk Hattie by Clara Gillow Clark, fiction for upper elementary school girls, tells the beautiful story of 11-year-old Hattie Belle in the late 1800's. With her mother dead, Hattie is left alone with her father, a rough logger who makes his living by rafting the logs down the Delaware River. 

One day her father comes home and announces that Hattie is going to pass as his son and join him on the river. Concerned that she's no longer "his girl," Hattie still settles into the logging routines and befriends 13-year-old Jasper, another logger's son. 

Clara Clark describes the trip down the Delaware in vivid detail. The reader gets to experience the perils of riding through rapids on a raft that can break apart any minute and how fearful Hattie is that the other men will discover her identity and turn against her father. 

Towards the end of the book Clark uses the metaphor of Hattie's journey to show Hattie's inner life. In reflecting on her mother's death Hattie confides to Jasper, "I think my ma got stuck in her mind somewhere between her fine home in Kingston and our hills. Somehow, I think it just pulled her apart, like a raft breaking apart on rocks you can't see." (p. 146)  

After they get off the river, Hattie discovers that her father has a different plan for her life.  A river of thought spun around in my head, floated together, fit into a pattern like logs and lash poles, pieces that shaped the story of our journey, mine and Pa's. "You taking me to Kingston, Pa?"

Young and old enjoy Hattie's adventures! This is
the infamous Uncle Bob devouring the novel in
two days. 

When I received this book several years ago I thought I'd give it away on this blog. But after my husband's uncle read it and recommended it, I fell in love with it too. Now I have a 7-year-old granddaughter who I think will also love it. Fortunately, Clara is willing to give away an autographed copy herself.  

Clara also now makes felt dolls of her characters! This set of Hattie and Jasper dolls, plus the teaching guide sells for $19.95 plus postage.

And last, but not least, Clara, who is presently teaching at several Highlights workshops, also offers critique services at reasonable rates. You can best reach her at this email address.  

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To enter this contest, just leave me a comment and your email address if I don't have it. Clara and I would love it if you shared this on Facebook or Twitter too.  And since my blog followers now number 99, if you become a new follower, I'll enter your name twice, and I'll reach the 3-digit mark! 

I'll draw a winner on Friday, October 25th. Thanks in advance for entering!