Author: Dianna Dorisi
Winget
Author site:
http://www.diannawinget.comGenre: contemporary middle grade
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (2012)
ISBN# 9780547807980
Reviewed
by Sue Morris originally for Kid-Lit Reviews
About the Story:
Eleven-year-old Piper Lee’s mama is engaged to marry Ben Hutchings, a
prison guard. Piper’s daddy disappeared while flying his Piper Cub
plane and is presumed dead. Piper refuses to believe this, and
keeps waiting for the day he walks back through the front door.
Five years is a long time to wait. Ben also has a daughter
who is Piper’s age, but they are as different as a horse and a zebra.
Piper is looking for a plan to stop the wedding of her mama and Ginger’s
daddy and finds one in Operation Find Tina.
What I Thought: A
Smidgen of Sky is wonderfully written, with distinctive characters and full
of Southern charm. Piper Lee is the narrator and her voice is
unforgettable. She is holding on to her father’s memory, hoping he
will find his way home and life can return to normal. Mama has
made her peace and is ready to move on by marrying Ben. Piper
doesn’t understand this and plans to stop the wedding. She finally
gets her plan when finding out Ginger’s mother left her shortly after being
born. The plan is to reunite Ginger with her mother, who will then
reunite with Ben. How Piper does this is both humorous and
heartbreaking. The debut middle grade novel A Smidgen of
Sky, is a wonderful read kids will love. Ms. Winget explores blended
families, single parents, death and mourning, Internet predators, and a few
others as Piper Lee grows from a petulant ten-year-old to a wiser
eleven-year-old.
Find the author online:
The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. It is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've read. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by genre, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the search engine handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor.
1 comment:
Thanks so much for reprinting this great review, Carolyn! A Smidgen of Sky was chosen as an IndieBound New Voices Pick, and I'm celebrating its first anniversary in print.
Post a Comment