Historically Speaking

Elizabeth Winthrop is the author of more than 50 works of fiction for young people. Counting On Grace , her recent historical fiction middle reader, has garnered much priase. It is an ALA Notable Book , a Jane Addams Peace Prize Honor Book, and a Junior Library Guild Selection. 1. I'm not sure if we choose our stories or if they choose us. What was the case with Counting on Grace? Grace chose me. Absolutely. I was at an exhibit of Lewis Hine child labor photographs in the Bennington Museum in Bennington, Vermont and I saw this little girl leaning on a huge spinning frame in a mill. She's beautiful, but her eyes are wide and wary. She'd seen more of life than she should have at the age of 10. She was staring directly at me and she might as well have spoken out loud so clear was her voice in my ear. She said tell my story. 2. What were the challenges in bringing this story to printed page? A spinning frame is an incredibly complicated machine to try to explain to someone, chi...

I've added two books to my To Read stack on my desk; Linda Sue Park's latest release Keeping Score. I am really looking forward to reading this one. I've known Linda Sue since before her first book was released. This one tells the story of a young girl named Maggie, baseball, and her friend serving in the army in Korea. Perhaps I'll be able to get Linda Sue here for an interview. The other book is also by a wonderful writer I've had the great pleasure to meet - Elizabeth Winthrop. The book is titled Counting on Grace . It's about 12 year-old Grace and her best friend Arthur, who have to leave school to work in the mills. Photographer and reformer Lewis Hine comes to the mill to photograph kids next to the enormous spinning frames. Elizabeth - up for an interview? Can't wait to read both of these. What's on your shelf?

In The Shadow of the Ark Anne Provoost, translated by John Nieuwenhuien, Arthur A. Levine Books, An Imprint of Scholastic Inc., 2004, 16.95, hb, 368pp, 0-439-44234-6, YA Flemish author, Anne Provoost’s In The Shadow of the Ark , grips the reader with vivid scenes, well-developed characters, and beautiful language. She tells the story of Noah and his ark through the eyes of a young woman named Re Jana. Re Jana’s family have fled the marshes where they lived for years among skilled shipbuilders and fishermen to find work in the desert among the Rrattika people who are “wanderers”. Re Jana’s father, a shipbuilder, finds work with Noah, a wanderer, who is constructing a massive ship, the ark. Re Jana offers her skills to find “good water” and ultimately wins the love of Ham, the Builder’s son. Unfortunately, Ham has selected another girl to be his wife, but he cannot give up Re Jana. When Re Jana learns from Ham the true purpose of the ark she not only fears for her life and that o...