Thank you to a new (to me) book blogger for this excellent review. She listened to the audio of my newest book, and I agree that the audio is "excellent, with two perfect narrators."
Here's just one of the paragraphs that made me swoon with delight. Truly, when you work as hard as we do to get a story from our heads to the finished book, a review like this makes you believe it was worth that effort!
"As always in her immersive novels, Scattergood tells a warm story of childhood while also addressing important issues of race, poverty, and justice. I think this novel will be eye-opening for many modern children, whose classrooms today include plenty of Asian-American kids, to find out about this particular form of racism that was prevalent so recently. That is, of course, just one thread of this engaging story about friendship and family, as Azalea not only makes a new friend but also gets closer to her grandmother and learns her family history."
I'm having a Destiny Day. First, my wonderful agent and editor shared the news that my book was nominated -> for this nice award. The other books on the list make me swoon. I'm very proud! And then the mail came. Really, there isn't much better to reward writers for all the hard work than getting a note from a reader who really connected with your book. I answered it right away. But I'm still smiling. Since he, like Theo, is a baseball fan and a music lover, I used one of my Elvis stamps.
My favorite line: "It made me cry when Uncle Raymond had the talk with Theo. I'm glad that I have caring parents that love me."
SOAR! My exclamation point, not Joan Bauer's. I love this book a lot. Such great characters. So funny, yet poignant and serious. So much subtext. I think SOAR will provoke great discussions.
There are so many quotes I could share. I like this one:
Uncle Jack, who was very good at cards, always told me, "It's not the hand you're dealt that matters--it's the way you play it."
And since we're big into spring training here in Florida, you may need to read these baseball books on my Pinterest board.
If you're still craving more baseball book connections, CLICK HERE for a fun interview Wendy Shang and I did about our own baseball books, The Way to Stay in Destiny and The Way Home Looks Now.
