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"...Good historical fiction makes history come alive for the reader, and this novel, which is based on the life of a real person named Thomas Savage, does exactly that. ..." Stories for ChildrenJAMESTOWN DUCK RECIPE Disjoint cleaned, plucked duck. Brown in bacon drippings with sliced onion. Salt and pepper duck. Add 2 C water and 2 bayberry leaves. Cook slowly 1 1/2 hr. In a separate pan, fry mushrooms, add 1/4 t fennel seds and 2 T flour. Add to duck, cook 30 min. One Among the IndiansThe Jamestown colony was far from what young Tom Savage had imagined. After a perilous journey from England as a cabin boy with Captain Newport, Tom hoped that Jamestown would fulfill its promise of peace and plenty. It was full of political jealousies, fear, and starvation and offered little hope for the wealth he had expected. In trying to reach a peace with the mighty Powhatan, Chief of the Pamunkeys, Captain Newport is forced to use Tom as a tool in the arrangements. Thus, Tom is temporarily left to live with Powhatan alone among the Indians. He develops a deep loyalty and affection for Pokatawer, son of Powhatan. It is through this friendship that he quickly learns the language and ways of the tribe and becomes involved in a struggle against death in the person of the tribal priest. Tom's stay with the tribe is extended as he repeatedly misses contact with Captain Newport. His position becomes increasingly dangerous and unpredictable as the English and the Indians fight desperately for control of the New World. ONE AMONG THE INDIANS, paperback, is available from all bookstores, off- and on-line; includingIngrams $13.95 ISBN 0-595-40668-8 ALLEIN UNTER INDIANERN, Schwabenverlag, Stuttgart http://www.iuniverse.com/bookstore/book_detail.asp?&isbn=0-595-40668-8 "Good historical fiction makes history come alive for the reader, and this novel, which is based on the life of a real person named Thomas Savage, does exactly that." Stories for Children "...history as fascinating drama, with Pocahontas, Capt. John Smith, and other characters of historical note playing key roles in a new light, for Mrs. Stiles' story is based on research and fact." Chicago Daily Tribune "...at the close of her book, [Stiles] gives a fascinating account of what became of some of the historical characters who appear in it." Charleston News and Courier "The book is a literal treasure of information about how the natives of that period lived as well as being an exciting narrative regarding Tom's adventure. This is a book that young people would enjoy as well as their elders. History buffs would regard this as soul food." El Paso Inc. "The tone of the book is suitable for teen readers but there is nothing childish about it that would stop an adult from enjoying this book...The book became quite compulsive reading for me...an eye opener in many ways, well researched and an anjoyable read." BookPleasures.com (For an outstandingly researched and swimmingly readable non-fiction account of Jamestown's founding, get Mitchell Lane Publishers' 2006-release "Jamestown, the First English Colony," by Susan Harkins and William H. Harkins.) Lonesome Road"A chilling and compelling story. The reader is caught up from the beginning and follows the steady anguish in the heart of a mother who has lost her child. The narrative races along, like one of those Bluegrass Thoroughbreds in the setting of this marvelous novel." The intensity of the story combined with the skill in its telling makes this novel, one of the largest undertakings in the 33 year of Gnomon Press, unforgettable. ISBN 0-917788-69-9 Gnomon Press Orders to Gnomon Press can be placed via 502-223-1858 phone/fax Orders can be placed to http://www.Amazon.com Orders can be placed to Small Press Distribution http://www.spdbooks.org/ KETBookclub Selection, May 2006, October 2007: SEE ket.org/bookclub/books/2006_may/stiles.htm The grist is here for a mystery of Southern gothic proportions. The arc of the tale, the main story with its inherent pathos and the sharp observation of domestic details strikes a poignant chord Publishers Weekly One of the pleasures of the book is the author's attention to detail The story's background is enriched by Stiles' knowledge of her subjects, ranging from all expert's intimacy with the thoroughbred industry to a seasoned detective's handling of criminal investigative work. Stiles' characters, situations, setting and dialogue are all believable. Furthermore she makes us care about the people in the novel including the kidnapper. But it is above all Ruth's story...we are held in suspense until the end. Gregg Swem, The Louisville Courier-Journal Lonesome Road is a nightmare tale of pain and terror by a writer of impressive talents and maturity. Other characters play important roles, but Ruth is the focus. In her monologues we enter the tortured consciousness of a mother longing for and sorrowing over her lost son. Like a contemporary Job, she endures a roll call of torments.... The tragedy also presses heavily on everyone drawn into it. The psychological depth is only one element of the novel's rich texture. Martha Bennett Stiles is a writer who knows her country and its people and, most important, how to tell a gripping story. This is a book that will stay with you for a long time. Wade Hall, Lexington Herald-Leader Now and then a novel comes along with an insight into the lives of the characters that leaves a lasting impact on the reader. Lonesome Road by Martha Bennett Stiles is such a book. The sudden disappearance of a child is devastating to any family, and the suffering of the mother is vividly brought to life by the author. ...Let me warn you that the suspense of this story makes it very difficult to put the book down. Luvada While, Chillicothe Gazette ...Bourbon County's Martha Bennett Stiles has pulled it off. Lonesome Road is the story of the impact of a boy's kidnapping on the family left behind. It is also a story about contemporary farming, raising a family, and race and class conflicts. Most of the passages – somewhat in the vein of' Rosellen Brown's Before and After or Carol Shields' The Stone Diaries - are from Ruth's point of view. The real story here is that of an educated farm woman walking the line between what she knows and what she can say, between duty and desire, between herself and the world. Stiles holds the kind of knowledge that when shared, makes the road a little less lonesome. Mary Welp, Louisville Magazine What drew me to Martha Bennett Stiles and her Lonesome Road was a place setting. The story is set in beautiful horse country of Bourbon County, Kentucky, and its surrounding Bluegrass region, and its spill-over into the east Kentucky mountains. Stiles takes three groups of Kentuckians from that region - bluegrass horse folk, poor-white mountain folk, and black folk -- and mixes them into a burgoo of mystery, kidnapping, scenic description. Stiles makes more of the story than a usual thriller-author would, and spins a fascinating yarn from her use of place. Larry McGehee, Southern Seen You don't so much read this book as live it. A boy disappears. Days go by. The lives of the mother and father and the boy's younger sister are irrevocably changed as they try to survive the catastrophe. This harrowing story is told against a background of the Kentucky thoroughbred country. The birth of a foal, the threat of a barn fire, the relationships of the inhabitants of this world are made real by Stiles' intelligence and genius for observation of the human condition.Amazon.com Reader Comment [Ruth's] anguish and changing realities as weeks and months go by make a gripping story. ...Several chapters are told from [African-American police detective] Blount's point of view... [and there are] several chapters from the point of view of the man who kidnapped Lang ... but it is Ruth's chapters which are most compelling. Lois A. Marchino, El Paso Times Martha Bennett Stiles tells an unforgettable story. …Although the story is gripping, this is not a "pop thriller. It is a psychological investigation into what tragedy can do to a happy, wealthy, close-knit family... Dan Elkinson, Ace Magazine Martha Bennett Stiles has written a terrifying yet fascinating tale ... barnesandnoble.com Customer Review .. to pen a novel about human drama set in the heart of Kentucky's Bluegrass region,...Martha Bennett Stiles is uniquely qualified. Jill Williams, The Blood-Horse Stiles' colorful characterizations, ranging from feisty backwoods women to snake-handling religious fanatics, give this contemporary page-turner a timeless feel. Ann Collette, Book This book is notable in the way it deals with the range of emotions that invade the family during the months-long ordeal: guilt, shame, fear, anger, jealousy and numbness. It also weaves in the color of life on a horse farm--long nights spent waiting for a foal to be born; horrors of barn fires; and the social pecking order of the horsey set. Elsa McDowell, Charleston, S.C. Post and Courier The anguish every parent feels when a child disappears is the core of this gripping novel. It reads like a detective story ... but an underlying theme is the psychological changes the family suffers after the kidnapping. ...[Martha Bennett Stiles] is a dab hand at turning a story. Betty Ligon, El Paso Inc. "Lonesome Road" is a strongly written novel of family angst in crisis set in the horse breeding arena so important to the Bluegrass. Martha Bennett Stiles' knowledge, feel for people and strong writing style serve her well. John L. Allen, Newport News Daily Press Stiles has a profound gift of language ... This is not light read, or a book that is easy to forget. Paul Gibson, The Bourbon Times http://www.aceweekly.com/acemag/backissues/980930/ae_980930.html Martha Bennett StilesMartha Bennett Stiles was born in the Philippine Islands, but grew up in Isle of Wight County, Virginia. ONE AMONG THE INDIANS, her first novel for young readers, is set around a bend in the James River from her girlhood home, "Innisfree." There she grew up milking goats and shearing sheep, experiences she drew on for her fourth young adult novel, KATE OF STILL WATERS. As a College of William and Mary and a University of Michigan student (nicknamed Peggy, maiden name Wells), she majored in chemistry. After graduation from U. of M., she worked for DuPont in Richmond Virginia until her marriage to a chemistry professor removed her to Ann Arbor, Michigan for 23 years. Today, she and her husband breed thoroughbreds on their farm in Bourbon County, Kentucky, the site of her adult novel, LONESOME ROAD. Martha has published stories in Virginia Quarterly Review, Georgia Review, TriQuarterly, Missouri Review, Southwest Review, New Orleans Review, Four Quarters, Seventeen, Ingenue, Coed, Journal of Kentucky Studies, Negative Capability, etc. Her articles have appeared in Esquire; Michigan Quarterly Review; The New York Times Travel and OpEd Sections; Stereo Review; Worldview; Mankind; The Thoroughbred Record; The Horsemen's Journal; The Maryland Horse; The Boston Globe; Writers' Digest; Impresario; Virginia Cavalcade; Michigan Alumnus, and the Lexington Herald-Leader. She has published book reviews in The New York Times, Mankind; The Detroit Free Press; The Ann Arbor News; and The Michigan Free Press. Island MagicIn this poignant story of a boy's relationship with his grandfather, Martha Bennett Stiles and Daniel San Souci have captured the urgency of a child's desire to be accepted by, and to give in return to, someone he loves. Reprinted with the permission of Atheneum Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing Division from ISLAND MAGIC by Martha Bennett Stiles, illustrated by Daniel San Souci. Cover illustration copyright (c) 1999 Daniel San Souci. HONORS American Booksellers Assoc. Children's Pick of the Lists Fall 1999 2000 Kentucky Bluegrass Award nominee. 2000 Great Lakes Book Award nominee. Winner, Detroit Women Writers Millennium Readings competition, Children's Division ReviewsFrom Children's Literature Although this story may appear simple upon the surface, the underlying emotions of a grandfather who has had to give up the life he knew and a grandson who needs reassurance of his grandfather's love are conveyed in both the text and the illustrations. Grandad has sold his diary farm and is now living with David and his parents on an island in the Detroit River. David remembers visiting the farm every year and how happy he was listening to Grandad tell him interesting things about farm life. His happiness at Grandad's arrival is tempered as he observes his grandfather just sitting in a rocker on the porch. Grandad misses the farm where he had known every one of his cows by name. David realizes that it is now his turn to tell Grandad interesting things, and he takes him down to the river where they feed the geese. Grandad smiles as he and David choose silly names for the geese, and finally Grandad says to David, "I like living here where you can tell me things." The relationship between the boy and his grandfather is heart warming and realistically presented. Carolyn Mott Ford Copyright © Children’s Literature, all rights reserved From Kirkus Reviews This peaceful yet affecting story from Stiles recounts a boy's efforts to get his grandfather to feel at home when he comes to live with the boy's family. The boy remembers all the fine times he had at his grandfather's dairy farm how the two of them would walk to the barn and the grandfather would regale him with interesting tidbits and he wants his grandfather to feel the same excitement and pleasure in his new home, an island in the Detroit River. But the grandfather is taciturn in his displacement, full of memories and the pang of time's passage. The boy is a masterful psychological strategist, gently nudging his grandfather toward joy in his new surroundings, yet never demanding a commitment. Gradually, quietly, as befits San Souci's elegant winter spare landscapes, the grandfather discovers a new life often through the boy's associating various elements of the island with the dairy farm. It is a subtle drift, and all the better for it, as the boy, the grandfather, and the island home meld into a give and take that marks a fruitful, abiding relationship. Copyright ©1999, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. From Horn Book David finds his normally voluble grandfather acting sullen after he sells his dairy farm and moves in with his family on Grosse Ile, Michigan. As David takes him on walks and shows him island highlights, Grandad gradually comes around. This refreshingly unsentimental tale of love's capacity to heal has an admirably light touch, as do the watercolor illustrations depicting the changing seasons. Copyright © 1999 The Horn Book, Inc. All rights reserved. From School Library Journal When Grandad sells his dairy farm and comes to live with David and his parents on an island in the Detroit River, the boy is eager to show off all his favorite sights. At first, the old man is sad, missing his cows. David tries everything he knows to cheer him up through the seasons: telling him about all the ships that go by, feeding the wild geese, and showing him the apple trees in the summer. All along, the child is afraid that his grandfather won’t be happy. “I wanted to ask him if he was glad he’d come to our island, but I was afraid he might say no.” Finally, one autumn morning, after the two share a walk in the early fog, Grandad tells David that he likes living on the island with him. The message is all the stronger for remaining understated, and the author demonstrates a keen understanding of a child’s mind. San Souci’s peaceful watercolors capture the spirit of the story, showing the warm insularity of both the island and the caring family that dwells there. Any picture-book collection would benefit from this tender story of the bonds between generations. Kathleen M. Kelly MacMillan, Carroll County Public Library, Eldersburg, MD Copyright © 2000 School Library Journal. All rights reserved From Booklist “...[Grandad] comes to appreciate being with David as much as David loves being with him. This is a quiet, moving story, and it may take a child older than the story hour set to appreciate its nuances. San Souci’s watercolor artwork vividly shows the seasons passing, juxtaposed with an old man who is moving from the winter of his soul into a brighter, happier time. Any child who has tried to make an adult smile will respond to this. Ilene Cooper Copyright © 2000 Booklist All rights reserved. From Kentucky Monthly ...Grandparents and grandchildren will enjoy this tale of how the narrator helps his grandfather overcome his grief by sharing with him the magic of life on Grosse Ile.” Elizabeth Graves Copyright © 2000 Kentucky Monthly. All rights reserved From Michigan Alumnus “...Martha Bennett Stiles, whose books such as “Sarah the Dragon Lady” have long delighted children, displays a remarkably sensitive touch in portraying how the love of a child can bring renewed interest in life to the elderly.” Copyright © 2000 Michigan Alumnus. All rights reserved From William & Mary “...a heartfelt, endearing tale about the relationship between a young boy and his grandfather. Wonderfully illustrated, the poignant story of two generations takes place in Grosse Ile, Michigan, where grandfather and grandson learn to understand and share their love for each other.” Jeb Stuart Rosebrook Copyright © 2001 William & Mary Magazine All rights reserved BOOK citation: Using Picture Storybooks to Teach Character Education, Susan Hall,Oryx Press 2000: When Grandad comes to live with David and his family on their island, he and David enjoy sharing the wonders of the natural world.Empathy: David senses that his grandfather misses the cows he had on his Wisconsin farm. David remembers liking to hear all the things that Grandad had told him about the farm. So, he tries to relate the new island life to the familiar things Grandad understood with dairy farming. All of Grandad’s cows were named, so as they feed the wild geese that shelter on the island, they name them together and feed them corn, just like the cows were fed. The fog that drifts over the island reminds Grandad of cows drifting along eating grass. And the damp fog on their hands was like a cow’s breath. Even the shape of the fog seemed to "split into three pieces, one big and two little." The big one browsed up the yard; the two little ones followed. "Like a cow with twins." David is rewarded at last when Grandad finally tells him, "I like living here where you can tell me things." Kate of Still WatersIn this thoughtful and engrossing book, Kate learns that courage and perseverance can sometimes make all the difference, and that, in a crisis, even she herself can save the day!
KATE OF STILL WATERS received a Society of Children's Book Writers/Judy Blume Contemporary Novel Award KATE OF STILL WATERS is available as a Kentucky Talking Book REVIEWSstarred review from Kirkus Review , August 15, 1990: A moving, expertly woven story in which Kate, 13, learns that she has what it takes to be a Kentucky farmer. The drought was bad, but after dogs kill many of their sheep the following spring, the Chiddens face hard times. Kate wonders whether they will still own the farm when she's grown, and whether she has the stomach for such unpleasant tasks as salvaging wool from days-dead sheep. While watching neighbors struggle and fail, she also sees tension mounting in her own family as her proud father resentfully accepts the necessity of her mother going to work in town. Stiles evokes–with equal skill–the excitement of a horse auction, the poignancy of a farm sale, the joy of lambing, and the complex dynamics of a decent, stressed family. Her animal husbandry scenes are as vivid and dramatic as Herriot's; with deeply felt sympathy she makes clear how farmers (and even bankers) are caught between a rock and a hard place in a depressed rural economy. Kate's strength, ability to face challenges, and (beneath a layer of self-doubt) the sense of worth derived from her capable parents are admirable. The novel concludes on a realistic note: through ingenuity and unrelenting work, the Chiddens make their mortgage payment–that year. A sensitive, honest picture of a threatened way of life. copyright © 1990, Kirkus Associates, LP All rights reserved Farm Journal, December 1991: Top honors for realism and fine writing go to Martha Bennett Stiles for Kate of Still Waters (Macmillan). The 13-year-old Kate of the title is a courageous and complex girl learning to be tough enough to become a farmer like her father. Set in modern-day Kentucky, the writer's vivid details of animal husbandry, farming and 4-H shows are right on target, but it is Kate's attitudes and reactions that really shine. "Helping at lambing time gives me a feeling I don't think my town classmates ever get....Lawn mowing and vacuum cleaning aren't like taking a tiny newborn creature up in your arms and guiding it to its mother for its first drink." Kate's challenges come in the form of drought and down prices. "I get a safe feeling every summer when I see the winter hay stacked high under shelter. Even last summer, knowing we'd paid for them with borrowed money, seeing those rows of meadow-smelling bales made my shoulder blades relax." Finally, the family struggles to make the mortgage payments, and Mom seeks work off the farm. But the author avoids "save the farm" sensationalism and quick fixes and lets her characters learn and grow. Pam Henderson Reprinted by permission of Farm Journal.; copyright ©1991, Farm JournalKentucky Living, February 1991: The author carefully explores the feelings of a 13-year-old girl as she helps us understand the life of a farm family in the Bluegrass today. There are many rewards, such as picking and cooling the first watermelon of the year, or having the space to run and enjoy the sweet outdoors on a larger scale than the confines of a back yard. This life does not come without risks, as any farmer knows. We learn how serious these risks are when nature turns against the family by sending them drought when they need rain, and a pack of dogs to attack the sheep the family counts on selling to raise needed cash. The story contains frequent references to landmarks familiar to most Kentuckians. Best of all, though, for the young reader, are the little lessons in living that Ms. Stiles cleverly weaves into her enchanting and thought-provoking novel. Nancy Anderson St. Louis Post-Dispatch, December 9, 1990: I heard a distinguished author say he had learned more about writing from Martha Bennett Stiles than from anyone else–from reading her books. I wish I could say the same, but I was so totally engrossed in "Kate of Still Waters" (on first reading, at least) that I was oblivious to the techniques involved. I had to rerun the story in my mind and reread important passages. Not until then could I see the faint shadow of the author's hand behind the scenes. Of course that's what marks a master writer of fiction--the ability to fade into the background so the characters themselves can grasp the reader and draw him into their world. The Kate of the title is a marvelously complex and appealing girl who wonders if she can be tough enough to become a sheep farmer like her father. She watches the effects of drought and low income on the relationships within her family . She overhears her parent's concerns about making the mortgage payments, and she worries they may lose their farm. She reevaluates her mother and father, time and again, as her anger and understanding ebb and flow. And bit by bit, she matures to a point of greater tolerance–even toward a neighbor boy who wipes his nose on the back of his hand and calls her names. But most of all she learns that she is capable of meeting challenges that once overwhelmed her. Many of Kate's challenges are specifically related to farming–involving animal care, marauding dogs and drought–but a book as rich as this touches on far more. Kate's 13-year-old attitudes and reactions will resonate with many a young reader. Even though the author is so skilled that her techniques are almost invisible, her wisdom and experience are fully evident–shining through the thoughts of her characters and giving substance to their world. Stiles's "Darkness Over the Land" was an American Library Association Notable Book. "Kate of Still Waters" should garner its own honors and appeal to a broad audience as well. Arielle North Copyright © 1990 t. Louis Post Dispatch from The Bulletin for the Center of Children's Books, December 1990: ...the characterization is strong and believable–Kate and her friends are aware of their hard-working parents' struggles and successes. It is refreshing for fictional teenagers to be goal-oriented and sometimes serious, instead of superficially suburban. from School Library Journal, November 1990: ...Here is a sense of contemporary farm life, its difficulties and rewards, that is uncommon for current children's literature. from Publishers Weekly, August 10, 1990: ...Authentic details and rich descriptions will engage the reader. from Booklist, September 1990: ...This isn't a simple book with a happy ending; it's a considered, very real picture of a complicated, demanding life.
James the Vine Puller
Sarah the Dragon LadyTROLL MAGAZINE BOOK CLUB SELECTION
KENTUCKY BLUEGRASS AWARD NOMINEE
AVON PAPERBACK 1988 REVIEWS Kirkus Reviews Pointer! Kirkus Children’s Edition, January/February 1988: A trial separation between her parents brings Sarah and her illustrator mother from New York City to summer in a small Kentucky town. Her parents’ problems mean little to Sarah, wound up as she is in her own concerns: the third-grade teacher who shames her before the class for her drawing; the father whom she misses; a summer without friends in Meterboro; the boredom of posing for her mother. Gifted with a strong self-image and an agile mind, she makes it through the summer with the help of an amiable librarian, but in the fall a growing friendship with Annette (whose interest in Sarah begins at the library pet-show, when she brings an invisible dog and Sarah brings an imaginary dragon) makes her more aware of the needs of people around her. By the time Dad (nice but a typical male chauvinist who’s been doing a bit of deftly suggested self-realization of his own) gets Mom to agree to come to Paris with him and Sarah for Christmas, Sarah has become more supportive of her preoccupied mother and learned a lot about both problem solving and making friends. Stiles’ lively characters and realistic situations are sketched with sure precision and humor. Sarah’s story is full of the sort of wisdom and incident that have made Cleary popular with this age group. 10/1/86 copyright © Kirkus 1986 Publisher’s Weekly, 11/28/86: Articulate nine-year-old Sarah and her mother move from New York City to Meterboro, Kentucky, so that Mom (an illustrator) will have local color for her latest book. Sarah–who has suffered the worst day of her life on the last day of third grade–looks forward to the new school while worrying about her parents’ separation. This episodic, first-person account is engaging and peppy, with a protagonist who could hold her own with Lois Lowery’s Anastasia or Constance Greene’s (Al)exandra. Her observation of daily life add up artlessly to a convincing portrait of a middle-class child. The cover design of a pensive, vulnerable-looking Sarah is exactly suited to the story. Copyright © 1986 Publishers Weekly (Grateful author’s note: Cover design by Eileen McKeating) Bookwatching (The Official Journal of the National Council of Teachers of English, Elementary Section): Nine-year old Sarah and her mother, an illustrator, borrow a house near Lexington, Kentucky, while her mother completes a book about horses. Sarah is uneasy about leaving her fashion-designer father behind in New York City (could her parents possibly be heading for divorce?) and uncertain about fitting in at a new school. There is mild culture shock, as well, for she is not prepared for a small town’s web of interrelated families or central Kentucky’s love of horses and the University of Kentucky Wildcats. She responds with good humor, ingenuity, and courage. Among her new friends are an admirable librarian, a blind neighbor who pays her for reading aloud, a boy who calls her “Dragon Lady,” and best friend Annette, whom she hates to leave when the time comes to rejoin her father. Sarah narrates her own story with flair and a habit of quoting the adults in her life, a device that raises the level of language in a child’s first-person telling. Through Sarah’s commentary on everyday events, the author makes them something extra. Copyright © Bookwatching Michigan Alumnus, January/February 1988: This story, written in the first person, is a delightful portrait of the difficult year experienced by Sarah, an appealing fourth grader. Her mother, an artist, takes Sarah away from her father and home in New York City to a small Kentucky town to complete illustrations for a book. Sarah tries to adjust to small-town living, a new school, and new friends while worrying whether her mother intends to go back to her father when she finishes her illustration assignment. Stiles has a good ear for dialogue and Sarah’s wry remarks about the people she meets and the events in which she becomes involved make this book lively and fun to read. Stiles, who lives in Paris, KY, is a Hopwood Award recipient who has written a number of books for children, one of which–Darkness Over the Land–was an ALA Notable Book. copyright © Michigan Alumnus 1988 The [Louisville] Courier-Journal, 11/23/86: Martha Bennett Stiles makes good use of experiences on her horse farm...in “Sarah the Dragon Lady.” ...She tells, in Sarah’s words, of moving to Meterboro, Ky., where her mother, an illustrator, will make drawings for a book about horses in Kentucky. Sarah realizes that the move is, in her mother’s eyes at least, also a trial separation from her father, which makes accepting the new environment more difficult. Stiles has an eye for telling details and an ear that catches a 9-year-old’s conversations. She narrates Sarah’s story in Sarah’s own words, with considerable humor, as the child schemes to make new friends and bridge the rift between her parents. The library becomes a favorite place, and when a pet contest is held there, Sarah recalls a part of a letter from her father to her mother: “Loneliness is like an invisible dragon. You don’t see it, but it devours you.” Since she has no pet, she announces that her pet is an invisible dragon: “No facts are known about dragons, which can be the best thing about them, or the worst. My dragon’s back is so long and broad, two people could ride to school on his back–and he would wait all day and ride us home again.” And that’s how Sarah came to be called The Dragon Lady as she comes to terms with her invisible dragon and moves toward reuniting her parents. Shirley Williams copyright © The Courier-Journal 1986 Press & Sun-Bulletin, Broome County, New York, 4/2/87: Much of today’s children’s fiction deals with the real problems of real life. Among them are books written to help children cope with separation or divorce. “Sarah the Dragon Lady,” Sarah’s first-person account of her adjustment to the changes that come after parents separate, is one such book, and it’s one of the best. Sarah is a bright but unsophisticated kid from New York City who accepts her limited power in the world of adults. When she and her artist-illustrator mother move to a small Kentucky town, she’s concerned about finding friends, doing well in school, deciphering the puzzle of her parents’ relationship, but she’s not dismayed by the challenges of the new situation. Changing what she can change is most important to her, so she concentrates on adjusting to small town life, snagging pretty Annette as her friend, getting over her fear of horses, and earning money for birthday and Christmas gifts. Sarah is called the “dragon lady” because, having no live animal for the library’s pet contest, she invents an invisible dragon and amuses the other contestants even though she doesn’t come close to winning. Far from being any kind of “dragon lady,” Sarah is an absolutely ordinary girl whose everyday qualities–empathy, imagination, sense of humor and optimism–make her attractive and endearing. Without being a Supergirl, Sarah copes, achieves, makes progress. One of the book’s earliest scenes, for example, depicts Sarah’s hilarious but poignant last day in the third grade when she does her best to deliver or oral book report despite her pressing need to use the bathroom. Later on in Kentucky, where the unfriendly owner of some horse stables has dubbed her “city girl,” Sarah proves her mettle by averting a terrible accident at the stables through fast thinking and quick action. Throughout the book, Sarah’s parents remain a peripheral, though critical element. Sarah describes them so they seem simultaneously sincere, distant, arbitrary and a little foolish. She loves them both very much, misses her father desperately, tiptoes around her mother’s bad moods and accepts the good ones, tries hard to please. She feels no guilt for her folks’ separation, but can’t quite grasp either its cause or the reason for their eventual reconciliation. Sarah doesn’t let those things bother her, though; she accepts the situation and goes on. Sarah is the kind of girl readers will admire . Deborah Williams, Broome County Public Library copyright © Press & Sun-Bulletin 1987 Booklist, 11/1/87: When Sarah’s illustrator mother decides she must go to Kentucky to paint horses for her new book, Sarah has to leave her fashion-designer father and New York for life in the boonies. The question mark in her parents’ marriage bothers Sarah as does much of small-town life. Still, there are some bright spots, especially her friendship with the imaginative Annette and her reading sessions with blind Mrs. DeMeter, who becomes a sounding board for the young girl’s problems. This chronicling of Sarah’s time in Kentucky will hold readers’ attentions... copyright © Booklist 1987 Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books, 2/87: “In New York there are lots of bookstores, not just Scribners, and lots of delicatessens besides Gristede’s. In Meterboro there is no bookstore and no delicatessen and, until my mother finishes these pictures she came down here to draw, no allowance.” Hot on the heels of a disastrous third grade, Sarah finds herself in Kentucky with her mother, who goes there to draw pictures, or think about her marriage, or both. While Sarah’s most pressing immediate concern is cash flow, (which gets her and her friend Annettte into some messes), she also worries about when–and if–they will return to New York. Readers will worry too: Sarah’s mother is not the sort that inspires confidence; immersed in her work, she’s rather uninterested in her daughter, until Sarah sends some of her mother’s drawings to several publishers. No luck here, but they do rejoin Dad in New York, where the three will take off for Paris...copyright © Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books 1987 School Library Journal, December 1986: ...the book shows an understanding of children’s concerns and emotions...copyright © School Library Journal 1986 The Detroit News, 1/20/87: ...Sarah toughs it out, keeping a keen eye on the real world and a sharp sense of humor. She is wonderfully real, muddling her occasionally brilliant perceptions with outlandish notions. She can laugh at herself and delight in the natural world... Cynthia King copyright © The Detroit News l987 The [Smithfield, VA] Times, 12/10/86: ...Sarah is a spunky little girl, transported from New York City, where her fashion designer father must live to do his work to Meterboro, Kentucky, where her illustrator mother has gone to paint horses. Sarah finds the town library straight off, and there makes friends with the librarian and an interesting girl her own age named Annette Frazier. She manages to adjust to her new life, even the part of it dealing with mucking out the stables on a horse farm outside of town. Her major problem all along is worry over whether her parents will ever get back together in New York. Through the skillful use of first person narrative, Martha Stiles has created a very real nine year old. The language of the book is Sarah’s speech, honest and discerning. She says the autumn leaves are “the color of the wine my mother and father used to drink with hamburgers.” Or explaining the process of waiting for the postman and willing there to be a letter from her father, she says, “I put both my hands over my mouth, and if I don’t breathe until he is beside our gate, he will turn in. It hasn’t worked every time. Maybe my nose leaks.” Sarah has the innocense of childhood. On the other hand, she understands a great deal that remains hidden from adults. Delightfully funny, often touching... Copyright © Doris Gwaltney 1986 Potomac News, 12/30/86 ...Ms. Stiles has the experience, skill and grace to tell us a lot about both fourth-graders and small-town Kentucky. She tells the story straight, low-key and without a lot of cutesy contriving, pretty much as a kid that age would see it. That’s a lot of what’s good about the book. The plot is properly handled, the situations believable, but mostly Sarah and the people around her are people you can see and savor. In the nature of kids, there is a laconic understatement in Sarah’s narrative that reminds me of what Twain did with Huck Finn. It looks so easy and that’s the hard part. I rechecked my opinion by bouncing it off my pet monster, a worldly high school junior. She finished it and liked it, and that’s a pretty good endorsement when you consider that’s a 16-year-old reading about a 10-year-old. The thing is readable by and to about any age, and that’s the kind of quality seen in the old classics and hardly ever since. I wonder if 10 year olds will wonder, when they get 50 years old, why they don’t write books like “Sarah the Dragon Lady” any more. Norman Tennant copyright © Potomac News 1986 The Strange House at NewburyportParents' Magazine Bookclub Selection, l964. Paperback, Parker River Researchers, Newburyport, l989. Kentucky Talking Books, l990. Translation: DAS SELTSAME HAUS VON NEWBURYPORT, Schwabenverlag, Stuttgart, l967.
I suppose your grandmother is havin' ye visit to seek out the treasure," said the ugly steamboat captain. "There's some say ye should ask those who've traveled the Underground Railroad where to find it. There's others say the ghosts that haunt McClintock house could point it out to you!" Prudence and Faith McClintock were traveling from Boston to Newburyport by steamboat, a new-fangled contraption in 1833. They quickly dismissed the captain's odd words. But they were to remember them later when strange things began to happen! There was the rattling in the chimney, which the housekeeper said began right after Grandfather's death. Whose voices did they hear in the middle of the night? And why was Grandmother so anxious to keep them out of the cellar? Prudence and Faith set out boldly to uncover the secret of the house, only to discover not one, but two mysteries and to become involved in an adventure far more dangerous and exciting than a treasure hunt.
The Star in the ForestDarkness Over the Land, Dial PressTeenager Mark Elend survives World War II in Germany American Library Association notable books l966 Kirkus Review pointer ("for books of unusually high quality") School Library Journal starred review Horn Book Magazine Fanfare list, l967. Translation: LA ROSE BLANCHE DE MUNICH, Alsatia, l969. Dorothy Canfield Fisher Memorial Children's Book Award Master List, 1968. Some list and anthology inclusions: "Only Connect: Readings on Children's Literature," Sheila Egoff, Oxford University Press, 1969. School Library Journal "Lest We Forget: Books on the Holocaust," May l975. "The Best in Children's Books, l966-1972," Zena Sutherland, Univ. f Chicago Press, l973. "Anthology of Children's Literature," 5th ed., 565, Johnson, Sickels, Sayers and Horovits, Houghton Mifflin. "Best Books for Children." R. R. Bowker, l971. College of Library and Information Services, University of Kentucky/Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives, Holocaust bibliography (1985). Center for the Study of Children's Literature, University of Kentucky, "Holocaust," annotated bibliography Tana and the Useless MonkeyNo," said Tana's mother, "Pepito may not go to the Blessing of the Animals. Only animals that are useful to the family may be blessed. "
"But even the pigs are going to the churchyard," Tana protested, "even that snooty cat." "The church's rules are plain," Tana's mother answered. "No matter how much we all love that monkey, he is not useful, and Father Francisco may not bless him." Tana is crushed. Little Pepito, who eats spiders and flies and scratches their brood sow's back, not useful? Well, she will just have to prove otherwise. She cannot let the little monkey face the dangerous winter without a blessing. So, young Tana campaigns hard, pointing up Pepito's virtues, hiding his "scandals," trying to teach him helpful tricks. But as fast as she finds good things to say about him, he develops new forms of mischief, and the day for the Blessing of the Animals comes closer and closer. Readers will enjoy Tana and all the Navarros, their little farm in the clearing, the animals they must hide from government inspectors, the sow Rosie, the borrowed goat Diabla, the dog Rasparo, the cat Insolencia, and especially the little monkey Pepito. Will he ever prove himself worthy to be blessed like the others? Dougal Looks For BirdsIris Schweitzer, illus., Four Winds Press, New York, 1972. Anthologized: TAKE A BOW, Scott, Foresman textbook, 1980. A hilarious picture book. Dougal MacDougal's first birdwatching takes the cake. |
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