Reviewing & discussing middle grade books
My great-aunt, Ella Hough, was an amazing artist. I know because I have her sketchbook. She was born in 1868 to Thomas Hough and his wife Jane. Thomas was a successful entrepreneur who immigrated in his early twenties from Yorkshire, England, in … [Continue reading]
I notice I haven't posted in eleven months. I'm not very focused on promoting myself, I guess. But I have been a busy bee! I have a manuscript that is ready for publication, in my professional opinion and that of other professionals, but it's not … [Continue reading]
A teen-aged Jane Austen wrote a novella that she never even titled, much less published herself. It's been called Lady Susan, and now it's been made into a movie, "Love and Friendship." Austen is known for originating the romance novel. She really … [Continue reading]
Moon Over Manifest by Clare Vanderpool Published 2010 by Delacorte Press, 351 pages Genre: Historical middle grade/tween fiction, Newbery Medal winner Twelve-year-old Abilene Tucker arrives in the dusty, underpopulated town of Manifest, Kansas, … [Continue reading]
Crispin: The Cross of Lead, by Avi, Book 1 in the Crispin trilogy Published 2002 by Hyperion Books for Children, New York, 262 pages Genre: Historical drama for tweens This book won the Newbery Award when it was published, and more recently the … [Continue reading]
Monster the car is grinning. He thinks he won. I've been fighting with this car ever since we got him, nearly ten years ago. Took him home, and our mechanic discovered somebody had put antifreeze where the brake fluid ought to be. The car … [Continue reading]
Jane Ruth Elder, my mother, grew up in Tacoma, Washington, during the Depression in the family of a teacher. In those days, teachers were paid little. It became apparent that her parents could not afford music lessons for her, even though that is … [Continue reading]
This slide rule belonged to my dad, the engineer. Eldred W. Hough, although he was the oldest son, wasn't named for his father, Thomas C. Hough. Instead, his younger brother got the name Thomas Hough. So, why did the younger one get the … [Continue reading]
Thomas Hough, an enterprising young man, was born in 1844 into a lower-class family in Yorkshire, England, and didn't like his prospects. His education stopped at the sixth grade, and his dad was a wagon driver. He got a job at the local cotton mill … [Continue reading]
This is about Granny Jennie's mother Mary Jane, who dominated the Illinois prairie around her in the late 1800s but may have longed for a trip to ... Switzerland? My great-grandmother, Mary Jane Robertson, always wanted to go to Switzerland, or so … [Continue reading]
Writer of stories for tweens. Fiction editor. Publisher of fiction and curriculum. Reviewer. I love stories that push us to reach out beyond our comfort zones!
