DEER RUN HOME — Review & Giveaway

Thought for the Day:

“The best way is always to stop when you are going good and when you know what will happen next. If you do that every day when you are writing a novel you will never be stuck.” 
~ Ernest Hemingway ~

Gifts for My Writer Friends:

Janice Hardy at Fiction University always has an interesting take on things. HERE she has a post claiming Writing Your Novel Backward Might Be the Secret to Success.

Esther Ingles-Arkell has a long but very valuable post HERE: Some of the Greatest Writers of Dialogue (And What We Can Learn From Them). She has lots of great examples.

And speaking of dialogue, HERE is a great article from the Institute for Writers written by Victoria Sherrow on how to Convey Emotions through Dialogue.

Halloween is upon us, and I am hoping for record numbers of trick-or-treaters so I can clear my study of all those review books I’ve been saving for this event. A friend suggested I get listed on a map for trick-or-treaters through the Nextdoor app, so I did that. I live in a neighborhood that is kind of tucked away and isn’t noticed by many. Maybe the map will help get me some traffic. Last year I chose books for the kids, but this year I’m going to put all the books out on a big table and ask the kids to choose what they want. That should make everyone happier, and it will be easier for me. I won’t spend any time today on baseball news. It’s all bad. In dog news, Mango is adjusting nicely, but she is still very shy around anyone other than me, and she is very upset whenever I leave for a couple of hours. I’m hoping she will get very comfortable with my granddaughter Gracie. I’m thinking of going to Florida in December for a couple of days. My daughter Maggie will be performing in and doing musical direction for a regional production of ONCE. I love the show and really want to see it, so I’m hoping Mango will be able to stay with Gracie without freaking out. Fingers crossed.

On my last post, I offered a gently-read paperback copy of PLAGUE THIEVES by Caroline Fernandez to one of you. The winner this time is Sue Heavenrich. Congratulations, Sue! I will get your book out to you soon. If you don’t know Sue, she is a children’s writer from upstate New York writing non-fiction science titles. Please take a look at her site HERE. It has a lot of great content. And her books are spectacular.

As I looked through titles available for review, the title DEER RUN HOME caught my attention. What an unusual title. I had to find out what it was about, so I looked up information online and found it was a novel in verse — always a plus — and the story sounded pretty compelling. I had never heard of the author, Ann Clare LeZotte, but I found out she is a deaf librarian who has written several books. I requested the book and was not disappointed. I will have to make time to read some of her earlier books because I sure did like this one. And isn’t that a gorgeous cover? Here is my review.

Effie has been deaf since birth, but her family never learned to sign, so there is little communication between them. Her older sister, Deja, is at least kind to Effie and seems to care about her, but when there is some trouble between Effie and her stepfather, their mother sends Effie and Deja to live with their father in a dirty trailer house. Dad also doesn’t sign. He points at things and stomps his feet to tell Effie things. He drinks a lot and the kids often have nothing to eat. Effie’s teaching aide figures out how bad things are for her, and goes to court to try to get custody. It’s a bold move with no certainty of success.

Ann Clare LeZotte has written a heartbreaking story in lyrical blank verse. Effie tells her own story as the budding poet she is. This is very effective. It’s an important story based on a true happening and will help young readers develop understanding and empathy for disabled people. This story of family, friendship, courage, and kindness will stay with readers for a long time, and it will hopefully move them to be more generous of thought and kinder. It would be a wonderful read-aloud for classes and also will be good for reluctant readers.

I have a gently-read ARC of this book to give to one of you. All you need to do is be a follower (it’s free and easy — see the top, right corner of the post) with a US Address, and leave a comment. If you share the link to this post on social media, please let me know in your comment, and you will get an extra chance. And please don’t forget to check for other Marvelous Middle-Grade Monday posts at Greg Pattridge’s blog HERE.