Today’s pick: The Healing Spell
by Kimberley Griffiths
Little
Scholastic, 2010
Publisher’s
Description:
Twelve-year-old Livie is living
with a secret and it's crushing her. She knows she is responsible for her
mother's coma, but she can't tell anyone. It's up to her to find a way to wake
her momma up.
Stuck in the
middle of three sisters, hiding a forbidden pet alligator, and afraid to
disappoint her daddy, whom she loves more than anyone else, Livie struggles to
find her place within her own family as she learns about the powers of faith
and redemption. Livie's powerful, emotional, and sometimes humorous story will
stay with readers long after the last line is read.
Set in the
lush bayou of Louisiana, Kimberley Griffiths Little brings Livie's story to
life with power and grace.
My take:
This is a lovely story about a girl and how she fits into
her family when a life-changing tragedy strikes. I got hooked right from the
first page. Livie was a living, breathing person in my mind and I felt all her
sadnesses and worries right along with her until the end of the story. I could
relate to Livie as a tomboy and her struggle to be who she wanted when it
seemed like other people wanted her to be someone else. The details about the
bayou setting, complete with gators and bullfrogs, made the story lively and
interesting.
I often hear writing advice about making sure every word
counts, and in this story they all truly did. Each phrase or sentence includes
details that capture Livie’s thoughts and voice. I’d read this again to study
how Kimberley Griffith’s Little fit all the pieces together to make the story come
together so perfectly and to learn more about showing story events from the
main character’s perspective.
“I summoned up all the faith I could from deep down in my
gut.”
“…I felt the hugeness of that knowledge bursting up from my
toes, rising straight to my heart, and filling everything in between.”
Other info:
Kimberley Griffiths Little knew she wanted to be a writer in
elementary school, when she used to write stories every day and read lots of
books. She lives with her husband and children in a solar adobe house in New Mexico.The Healing Spell won the Whitney Award for Best Youth Novel of 2010 and was chosen as a Bank Street College Best Book for 2011.
Other books by this
author include:
Circle of Secrets, 2011Enchanted Runner, 2009
The Last Snake Runner, 2004
For more, visit Kimberley Griffiths Little’s website.
Marvelous Middle Grade Monday was dreamed up by the incredible Shannon Messenger. Visit her blog for an up-to-date list of all the bloggers who are participating and posting about middle grade books today!
