Summer of the Tree Army: A Picture Book Review and Giveaway

 I'm happy to share another new release by Sleeping Bear Press, Summer of the Tree Army: A Civilian Conservation Corps Story written by Gloria Whelan (who is still publishing books at 97!) and illustrated by Kirbi Fagan. 

REVIEW

This is a fictional account of a young boy, Charlie Brightelot, who encounters the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) building cabins in the woods near his Michigan home.

When he asks his parents about the cabins, his mother says they are young men who need jobs because of the depression. His father clearly states his disdain for the CCC. "From what I hear, all they do is eat three meals a day, sleep, and sit around."

Over the summer, Charlie found the young men planting trees in a place where "dead tress rose like skeletons" from a forest fire.

Charlie meets a young man wearing the CCC uniform who is lost in the woods and seems scared.

Charlie invites Luke to fish with him  and a friendship blossoms. He brings Luke home for a home-cooked meal and although Mr. Brightelot isn't very welcoming, Charlie's mother knows a hungry boy when she meets one.

The next day, a forest fire breaks out nearby. Charlie's father decides to go help the "city boys" and although Charlie is warned not to follow, he's a boy. So, of course he hops a ride without his father's knowledge.

When they get there, the CCC men are in the middle of fighting the fire by digging trenches. By mid-afternoon the fire dies away. 

Despite himself, Charlie's father has to admit, "Those CCC boys earned their keep. The folks around here owe them a huge thanks."

The story ends with Mr. Brightelot affirming Luke's work and a sweet statement about the boys' great summer. 

This book takes place in a time when boys could spend hours in the woods; Kirbi Fagan's Norman Rockwell-like illustrations reflect that time period. Both the author and illustrator call Michigan home and the book, a part of the Tales of Young American series, reflect their love for the state. This book will be a fine elementary school resource for home and classroom libraries.

GIVEAWAY

If you're interested in winning my copy of this book, please leave me a comment by 6 PM on May 7. Leave your email address if you are new to my blog. For additional chances, share this post on social media or start following my blog--just let me know which you do in the comments.

ONE WEEK OF YOU- by Lisa Kline's new YA novel and a Giveaway!

Congratulations to Jo Lynn Worden and Julian Daventry who won copies of DRIVE from last week's blog post. 

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I am always honored when an author asks me to host their cover reveal. So, when Lisa Williams Kline asked if I was interested, of course I said yes! Her latest book, ONE WEEK OF YOU, (Blue Crow Publishing, February 2019) stars 15-year-old Lizzy who has to carry a flour baby for a week for her health class. During that time there are three prank fire drills and evacuations at school. In just one week, Lizzy realizes that adulthood brings complicated responsibilities. 

AUTHOR INTERVIEW

Lisa Williams Kline

Here Lisa shares some of the backstory of the book. 

CAROL: What prompted the story idea?

LISA: This story is fictionalized from two different real events. One year in high school my daughter had to carry a bag of flour for a week in her health class called a “flour baby.” I thought this was an interesting way to address human sexuality that had some comic potential. 

The second event took place several years later when there was a week in which there were three bomb threats in my other daughter’s high school. I was interested in the way the students handled that week. When I started writing this story, I thought, what if there were scary disruptions to the school schedule during the same week the kids had to carry the flour babies. I was partly interested in combining a somewhat comic story thread with one that wasn’t comic at all, and that has been one of the challenges in writing this story. It’s also a story of a first crush, and I based that on a combination of a couple of high school crushes of my own. And I have always been a forgetful person, and I incorporated that character flaw into my main character Lizzy. 

CAROL: Did you interview or research the book in anyway? If so, who did you talk to and how did you research it?

LISA: Yes, for example, part of my story involves student hacking of the school computer system, and I interviewed an IT expert on how the students could do this hacking. I also interviewed a teacher about school evacuations. I also had some teens read it and give me feedback about the voice. 

CAROL: I understand that you put aside the manuscript for awhile and then came back to it. Had the story changed in your mind in the interim? If so, how?

LISA: The story has evolved quite a bit over the time that I have been working on it. I put it away when I was working on the Sisters in All Seasons series. When I took it back out, I thought, hey, I think I can work on this again, there are some good moments here. Various editors and agents have all had suggestions for changes, and the story is quite a bit different than it was starting out. 

CAROL: What is the message you hope your readers will take away?

LISA: I wasn’t really thinking about a message when I wrote this book. I just wanted to tell a story that I hoped would be engaging. Many of my books end up being coming of age stories, and I think this one is too. I guess if there’s any message it would be to be kind to everyone. 

CAROL: Can you share some of your path to publication for ONE WEEK of YOU? 

LISA: While I’ve had an agent in the past, I do not have an agent now. I sent the manuscript directly to the editors at Blue Crow Publishing. www.bluecrowpublishing.com 

I queried Blue Crow Publishing and in a few weeks they asked for the manuscript. Lauren Faulkenberry wrote me about six weeks later, after she’d read it, with a revision request. In that revision, she wanted me to mostly ramp up the tension more and make a change to the ending. I worked on that revision for a little more than a month, sent it back, and after a few weeks she send me a publication offer. I was absolutely thrilled!

Lauren and Katie at Blue Crow have been wonderful to work with. After I signed the contract, Lauren wrote me an editorial letter in which she asked for more changes, such as fleshing out the setting more and describing the characters more fully. I also did another round of revisions for Katie. Blue Crow is an indie press, and the personal attention has been fantastic. I really feel as though Lauren and Katie were one hundred percent behind me and my book. So far it’s been a great experience. 

CAROL: Thanks for sharing all of that, Lisa. It's great to hear of an indie press that's working hard for its authors! And now for the moment you've all been waiting for (unless you cheated and scrolled down)--here is the lovely cover for Lisa's new book!

GIVEAWAY

Leave your name (and email address if I don't have it) to enter the giveaway of an eARC for ONE WEEK OF YOU. Enter soon! Giveaway ends October 18!

WONDER: A Review and a Giveaway

Congratulations to Clara Gillow Clark who was over-the-top excited to win Darcy Pattison's book, 30 Days to a Stronger Novel.

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I am late to the party celebrating WONDER’s impact on the literary world. I’d heard of the book but didn’t cross paths with it until I received a copy at last year's mid-year SCBWI-Florida conference. It was unopened on my “To Be Read” shelf until I saw it on a list of recommended books about bullying. Since that is the topic of the spring issue of Talking Story coming out this week, I decided it was time to finally read it.

I’m not sure what I am more impressed with: R. J. Palacio’s blunt portrayal of a courageous young boy, August, with extreme facial deformities; her spot-on ability to show the eight different point-of-view perspectives on August (including his own); or, the additional ending, “The Julian Chapter” which Palacio added two years after publication giving the back story behind Julian’s bullying August. All are equally superb.

Born with mandibulofacial dysostosis (also known as Treacher Collins syndrome) August had twenty-seven operations to try and repair his facial deformities. You get a glimpse of his strength of character on the first page:

I feel ordinary. Inside. But I know ordinary kids don't make other ordinary kids run away screaming in playgrounds. I know ordinary kids don't get stared at wherever they go.....I won't describe what I look like. Whatever you're thinking, it's probably worse. (p.3)

After being homeschooled, his family decides that it is time for him to enter school. Although he's used to being stared at, after his first day he breaks down:

"Why do I have to be so ugly, Mommy?" I whispered. 

"No, baby, you're not...." 

"I know I am." 

She kissed me all over my face. She kissed my eyes that came down too far. She kissed my cheeks that looked punched in. She kissed my tortoise mouth. She said soft words that I know were meant to help me, but words can't change my face. (p. 60)

Normally Halloween was August's favorite holiday since he could hide his face and blend in with other trick-or-treaters. But hidden in his costume he overhears a conversation between his one friend, Jack, and Julian, the leader of the popular crowd. He is crushed when Jack says, "if I looked like him, seriously, I think that I'd kill myself." (p.77)

Each change in point of view begins with backstory showing how the secondary character knows August. Using this device, R. J. Palacio not only shows how August impacts other people's lives, but creates a more complete story. August's POV weaves in and out if the other characters' accounts.

The second section is from Olivia, August's older sister, POV. It is obvious that Via loves her little brother but as she enters high school, she has her own set of problems to deal with: a broken friendship with her best friend; miscommunication with her mother who always puts August first; and generally figuring out where she fits in. 

Plus, there is the added stress of knowing she carries the mutant gene which is the partial cause of August's deformity. But Via shines through as a truth speaker in August's life. When August decides not to return to school after the Halloween incident with Jack, she confronts him. "Now unless you want to be treated like a baby the rest of your life, or like a kid with special needs, you just have to suck it up and go." (p. 115) Her tough love works, and despite his fears and misgivings, August returns to school.

The third point of view is Summer, a girl in August's class who befriends him for no other reason than she wants to. Initially she feels sorry for him, but eventually she concludes he's funny. She gets up her courage to ask him about his face and he answers:

"The main thing I have is this thing called man-di-bu-lo-facial-dys-os-tosis--which took me forever to learn how to pronounce, by the way. But I also have this other syndrome thing that I can't even pronounce. And this things kind of just morphed together into one big superthing, which is so rare they don't even have a name for it. I mean, I don't want to brag or anything, but I'm actually considered a medical wonder, you know." 

He smiled. 

That was a joke," he said. "You can laugh." 

I smiled and shook my head.

"You're funny, Auggie," I said

"Yes, I am," he said proudly. "I am cool beans." (p. 129-30)

The fourth POV belongs to Jack. Readers get a glimpse into his initial motivation for becoming August's friend, how he ends up enjoying him ["he laughs at all my jokes,...I can tell August anything...if all the guys in the fifth grade were lined up against a wall and I got to choose anyone I wanted to hang out with, I would choose August" (p. 143)], why he lets Auggie down, and then how he comes to his defense and they are re-united as friends. I was touched by how Palacio authentically portrayed the boys' friendship and conflicts. August is the target of more bullying from Julian after Christmas break, but this time Jack is on his side and they weather it together. 

The next POV is from Justin, Via's boyfriend. A shorter section, but poignant. Justin's parents are divorced and he sees Via and August's family in a totally different light. 

for as long as I can remember, i've felt like my parents could hardly wait for me to be old enough to care of myself. "you can go to the store by yourself." "here's the key to the apartment." it's funny how there's a world like overprotective to describe some parents, but no word that means the opposite. what word do you use to describe parents who don't protect enough? underprotective? neglectful? self-involved? lame? all of the above? 

olivia's family tell each other "i love you" all the time. 

i can't remember the last time anyone in my family said that to me. 

by the time I go home, my tics have all stopped. (p. 192)

Miranda, Via's best friend, provides a different outsider's perspective on Via and August in the sixth POV. 

Without giving a spoiler, circumstances shift during the spring and Julian finds himself on the outside rather than being the kid everyone wants to be friends with. August experiences a triumphant close to his first year in public school and with that, the original text ended. But two years later R. J. Palacio added The  Julian Chapter which shows why Julian was mean to August. He spends a vacation with his grand-mere in France, hears her family secret, experiences remorse over his attitude towards August, and apologizes to him.  

Including this last section is a stroke of genius. Every bully has a back story: pain in his or her life which leads to picking on others. WONDER is a triumphant story of a young boy who is courageous in the face of his deformity. It is also a story about taking responsibility for oneself and forgiveness. 

I am giving away my copy of the updated version of WONDER through the spring issue of Talking Story. Leave a comment here and I'll enter your name once. If you are interested in subscribing to the quarterly newsletter which Joyce Hostetter and I publish, leave your email address and I'll send you the link to the newsletter. Leave a message through the newsletter and your name will be entered twice. If you are new to this blog, PLEASE leave me your contact information in case you win. Winner will be drawn on March 21.