Holiday Giveaway #3- Hattie Big Sky on CD

Congratulations to Rosi Holinbeck, the newest follower of my blog and the winner of an autographed copy of Hattie Big Sky. For those of you who didn't win the book, here is your chance to win the book on CD. 

As promised, Kirby shares her own personal connection to Hattie's story: 

My beloved maternal grandmother was suffering from Alzheimer's and I was helping to take care of her. My heart was breaking over losing her, and at the same time, I was in a writing funk because I'd gone seven years without an acceptance letter. I was pretty sure I was supposed to quit writing. One day, I was with my grandma and she said, "The only time Mom was afraid was in the winter when the wild horses stampeded." Now, we live in the city so wild horses aren't generally something we have to worry about! 

Though I tried to get more information from Grandma, she didn't even remember saying those words to me. They stuck with me, however, and I asked my aunt if she had an idea if they meant anything. She recalled that my great-grandmother, Hattie Inez Brooks Wright,  (technically, my step-great-grandmother) had homesteaded as a young woman. And perhaps in Montana. I was so fascinated by that prospect, I began to poke around to find out if that was a true story. 

The real Hattie with her
niece and nephew

Though I wasn't able to find out much about her time on the prairie, I did learn that my great-grandmother did homestead, all by herself, in eastern Montana. I wanted to know more about what that experience might have been like for her, so I began reading homesteading stories/journals/diaries. That led to hours in newspaper archives, trips to Montana and a stack of books on Montana history! Before I knew it, four years had flown by, and I had a novel on my hands.

Lois Thomas Wright Brown, Kirby's maternal grandmother and model for the main character in Hattie Big Sky

Thank you, Kirby, for sharing this touching story!

And now that you've heard this "story behind the story", here is your chance to win Hattie Big Sky on CD. And yes, Kirby will find a way to autograph the CD for you or for someone you love.

Here are the rules: 

• If you already follow this blog, please share this contest via social media then post a comment on my blog or tag me on Facebook.
• If you aren’t a follower, sign up, and then leave a comment (see #1).
• If you have never entered one of my contests, PLEASE include your email address so I can contact you if you win. No contact information--you can't win!
• HURRY! Contest ends TOMORROW NIGHT. Winner will be picked December 15th. 

Do Hattie and Charlie ever get together? You'll have to read Kirby's next book, Hattie Ever After  due out in February, 2013 to find out. My mother and I can't wait! 

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Next Holiday giveaway is Kami Kinard's book, Boy Project!

Harlem Summer

Since I'm in the middle of working the kinks out of writing a juvenile historical fiction novel, I'm impressed with Walter Dean Myers' ability to convey a sense of history and place, through a believable character living in Harlem in 1925. Both boys and girls will enjoy reading about the "life of crime" that Mark Purvis inadvertently slips into—and will cheer along with him when he finds his way out. I would recommend this Newberry Honor Winner for students in grades 5-8. Check out this interview with him for background information on where he gets ideas for his stories, his feelings about poetry, his relationship to his family, and more. (Scholastic, 2007)

P.S. The back of the book includes a pictorial directory to the "real" people and places in Harlem Summer. This is an added bonus for kids (like mine) who always want to know what "really" happened.