If you are reading this in your email, don’t forget to click
on the headline to go to my blog. If you haven’t subscribed yet, please do. And
please leave a comment. If you have trouble leaving a comment, please click on
the title of the post and comments should pop up at the bottom. If you don’t
have one of the accounts they ask for or don’t want to use that, please use
Anonymous, but let me know who you are. Thanks. I love to hear from you.
Writer’s thought for the day and something to think about as you read the review:
"When people ask me
if these stories are true,
I prefer to say that they are true enough."
~ David Sedaris
My gift for my writer friends, a list of eight helpful hints
for writers, can be found here: http://www.writingclasses.com/Products/PubsDetail_Excerpt.php/ExcerptID/572
Now back to the business of blogging. I was contacted
recently by a friend who is part of a group of recently-published writers interested in having reviews of their works out there in the blogosphere.
Would I be interested in doing some book reviews? Well, heck, yeah. I’m always
interested in reading and reviewing books. When I found out many of these
writers have been working with editor
extraordinaire Steven Roxburgh, I was doubly on board. “Sign me up,” said
I. And then the first book arrived. Nancy Bo Flood sent me her slender volume
entitled no-name baby and I began
reading.
In rural Illinois, shortly after World War I, Sophie,
fourteen, is an only child, but there are three grey gravestones in the family
plot for babies lost – a sister and two brothers she had never known. Her
mother is pregnant again, and Aunt Rae has come to the farm from Chicago to
help when the baby comes. Sophie’s her grandmother, Nonna, lives there too, but
at her age, she can only do so much. Her father, of course, has to run the
farm. But he has help – a handsome young man, Karl, who goes to school with
Sophie. When Aunt Rae is in the house, there is always a strange tension.
As Sophie and her mother are doing chores one day, Sophie
wriggles out of slopping the pigs, a chore she hates. Finally, her mother
agrees to do it while Sophie gathers eggs. Sophie sees her mother struggle with
the slop pail, then slip and fall. She’s hurt and the baby is coming early.
It takes several days of worry before Sophie is able to
breathe easier, finally knowing her new little brother and her mother will be
all right. Since she has to stay home to help for awhile, Karl brings her
school work to her, meeting her in the orchard in early evenings. Their budding romance is apparent to all. Aunt Rae
doesn’t like it and, in a strangely contentious moment, says
something that makes Sophie question everything about herself and her life, a
mystery she is determined to solve.
“A strange weariness filled Sophie.
She sat down on Papa’s three-legged stool, tucked her knees under her chin,
circled her arms around her legs. And then, not knowing why, she cried and
cried.”
 |
| Nancy Bo Flood |
This bucolic story, framed by the ravages of World War I and
conflicts that can only be found in a family, has lovely texture, compelling
characters, and polished writing. Girls from upper middle grades on up through
YA will find a gem between the covers of no-namebaby. Nancy Bo Flood was kind enough to sign the copy she sent for review,
so one of you can win a very gently read autographed copy. Just leave a comment
here on the blog for once chance and post the link to to this blog post on your blog, Facebook, or
other social media and let me know for a second chance. As always, one of my
incredibly honest grandchildren will pull the winning name from a hat.
Remember, if you have trouble leaving a comment, click on
the title of the post and it will give you just this post with a comments
section on the bottom. If you are in the comment screen and your comment is refused or kicked back, please email me at rosihollinbeck at yahoo dot com and let me know. At least one of my regular readers is having a problem, and I am trying to correct this. Thanks!
