Secret Lives of Leaves
(This is a work in progress, but -- I'll share something about the seed my Middle Grade novel is growing from.)
When I read The Secret Garden I was disappointed.
There didn’t seem enough about the garden. The secret took center stage with the garden simply charged with keeping the secret hidden behind its walls. I couldn't help but feel removed from the garden. I wanted to be surrounded and enchanted by it.
To be brutally honest, the title—and all it conjured up in my imagination—was the best part of the book.
But that is all behind me now. What is important is that a seed was planted the day I read the title of that book and as I grew, that seed grew into something I needed to get into the ground before it died of thirst and purpose. Water and purpose are two things nobody and nothing can survive without.
The garden in this novel has grown and continues to grow, but beyond being a beautiful sight to behold and a vital source of food and shelter for the creatures in our world it is unsure of its greater purpose--
Until the day two very frightened feet enter it.
(This is a work in progress, but -- I'll share something about the seed my Middle Grade novel is growing from.)
When I read The Secret Garden I was disappointed.
There didn’t seem enough about the garden. The secret took center stage with the garden simply charged with keeping the secret hidden behind its walls. I couldn't help but feel removed from the garden. I wanted to be surrounded and enchanted by it.
To be brutally honest, the title—and all it conjured up in my imagination—was the best part of the book.
But that is all behind me now. What is important is that a seed was planted the day I read the title of that book and as I grew, that seed grew into something I needed to get into the ground before it died of thirst and purpose. Water and purpose are two things nobody and nothing can survive without.
The garden in this novel has grown and continues to grow, but beyond being a beautiful sight to behold and a vital source of food and shelter for the creatures in our world it is unsure of its greater purpose--
Until the day two very frightened feet enter it.
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Eleanor with the Weeping Eye
The Wishing Estate has been abandoned for some time, but when Xavier hits a baseball so high that he sees someone in its window he can't stop thinking about what he saw. Did he really see a girl with violet eyes?
Eleanor lives in the family's estate complete with antique furniture, a team of servants and everything a child could want, until the world around her slowly begins to change. Her parents start to sell off their furniture and food becomes harder to find in the cabinets. Then--she falls into her diary.
In this mysterious, time-traveling Middle Grade novel ELEANOR WITH THE WEEPING EYE eleven-year-old Xavier can't ignore what he's certain he saw. How is it possible for Eleanor to be in two decades at the same time?
The Wishing Estate has been abandoned for some time, but when Xavier hits a baseball so high that he sees someone in its window he can't stop thinking about what he saw. Did he really see a girl with violet eyes?
Eleanor lives in the family's estate complete with antique furniture, a team of servants and everything a child could want, until the world around her slowly begins to change. Her parents start to sell off their furniture and food becomes harder to find in the cabinets. Then--she falls into her diary.
In this mysterious, time-traveling Middle Grade novel ELEANOR WITH THE WEEPING EYE eleven-year-old Xavier can't ignore what he's certain he saw. How is it possible for Eleanor to be in two decades at the same time?
Lucy Bound in Lyrics
Sixteen-year-old Lucy wonders if music is enough to save her from her family when a poem by Maya Angelou finds its way into her classroom. That poem dares her to believe that words—written honestly and spoken out loud—are capable of pulling her out from under the weight of her sister’s alcoholism, her mother’s disconnected views and a childhood friendship suffering from growing pains.
Discovering her best friend lives a double life and her crush is a tech-obsessed cheat, Lucy is forced to wonder what and who is left to believe in. Surrounded by people with whom she feels a deep disconnect—Lucy summons the strength to look beyond the dysfunction swirling around her, cling to the saving grace of poetry, and speak with a voice that is unapologetically her own.
And love? Well, it's not always obvious. Or easy. But--it shows up in unexpected and awkward moments.
Sixteen-year-old Lucy wonders if music is enough to save her from her family when a poem by Maya Angelou finds its way into her classroom. That poem dares her to believe that words—written honestly and spoken out loud—are capable of pulling her out from under the weight of her sister’s alcoholism, her mother’s disconnected views and a childhood friendship suffering from growing pains.
Discovering her best friend lives a double life and her crush is a tech-obsessed cheat, Lucy is forced to wonder what and who is left to believe in. Surrounded by people with whom she feels a deep disconnect—Lucy summons the strength to look beyond the dysfunction swirling around her, cling to the saving grace of poetry, and speak with a voice that is unapologetically her own.
And love? Well, it's not always obvious. Or easy. But--it shows up in unexpected and awkward moments.
