Children's Books
|
Finest Kind | Wintering Well | Seaward Born | Stopping to Home | Q & A |
Teachers' Guides | Recipes (links coming soon, but for now, please scroll down)
|
|
|
| |
 |
| Finest Kind by Lea Wait |
 |
| Lincoln County Jail and Jailer's Home |
 |
| Window in Lincoln County Jail |
|
| |
FINEST KIND by Lea Wait
Margaret K.McElderry Books
Simon & Schuster Books for Children
ISBN 1416909524
October, 2006 $16.95
Surviving your first Maine winter is hard ... keeping a deep family secret is even harder.
It's 1838. Twelve-year-old Jake Webber and his family have moved from Boston to a small farmhouse on the outskirts of Wiscasset, Maine to start over. When his father's new job at the lumber mill takes him away from home, Jake's mother tells him, "I'll have to depend on you." But how can Jake find food and prepare for the dangerous cold of a Maine winter? How can he protect his mother - and the family secret they brought with them? Jake must learn a new life ... while he tries to make new friends, and a place for his family in a world far from his private school and servants in Boston. How can he ensure they have food and fuel when he has never even chopped wood? As the pressures of their new life begin to pull his parents apart, Jake realizes he must bring his family together to face the future -- and their past. FINEST KIND. The powerful story of a boy who must become a man.
CRITICS SAY ...
"Through hard work and the help of a colorful cast of characters, Jake learns that, despite their hard circumstances, life in Maine can be the 'finest kind', the best of the best. Well-written with loving detail about life in coastal Maine and a lesson clearly taught about the importance of friends and community, this is a story that will linger in the hearts of readers."-- Kirkus Reviews
"One solid piece of historical fiction ..." Horn Book
"Wait's prose is straightforward, the story is filled with diverse characters and period details, and Jake is an appealing, dimensional protagonist, whose challenges are sympathetically portrayed." -- Booklist
"Wait's forthright tone and clear writing make this novel accessible to a wide audience." -- School Library Journal
"Lea Wait .. has done it again! FINEST KIND is the saga of 12 year old Jake Webber's struggle to hold his family together in the face of the loss of his father's job and the necessity to move from Boston to rural Maine. It's a book that looks at the harsh reality of life in the early days of the 19th century, and it's a real page turner." -- Courier Publications, New Jersey
"Lea Wait's FINEST KIND is the most perceptive book on growing up in a new place in hard times that I've read in quite a while...The story of a boy growing into family responsibilties has overtones (and undertones) that are both timeless and universal, and people, in the last analysis, are basically people. Lea Wait gets that across without ever preaching or caricaturing, which is a pretty neat turn." The Courier Gazette (mid-coast Maine)
"Wait tackles a lot of historical issues in this work (the failure of banks, life in the Maine countryside, treatment of prisoners and the mentally disabled, to name a few), and handles all of them extremely well. Jake's transformation from spoiled Boston rich kid to capable country boy is realistic and extremely engaging." -- Children's Literature
|
|
|
| |
 |
WINTERING WELL
by Lea Wait
Margaret K. McElderry Books, September 2004 |
|
| |
WINTERING WELL
by Lea Wait
MARGARET K. McELDERRY BOOKS
ISBN 0689856466 $16.95 2004
Will Ames loved the land. The grasses, the earth, the sky, the animals, were all a part of him. They were his past, his present, and he had no doubt they would be his future.
At twelve years old, his schooling over, Will is looking forward to his first full year working with his father and brothers on their farm. Until his ax slips, and Will's life, and that of his sister, Cassie, who blames herself for his accident, are changed forever.
In 1820 Maine is a new state, full of opportunities. But can a man with only one leg make a place for himself? Where will his skills be valued?
Ma and Pa want Will to stay close to home. But Will doesn't want to be protected. "I have to be my own person, Ma. With or without a leg, I have to make my own life."
With Cassie to help him, Will finds new challenges in the nearby town of Wiscasset. Some boys in the town are cruel, and put him in danger. Will must prove his worth to survive. But he also finds possibilities he had not dreamed of, and decisions he must make. And Cassie, too, must find a new place for herself -- helping Will, or without him.
The moving story of two young people struggling to believe in themselves despite the changes in their worlds, and finding new futures.
WINTERING WELL was named one of "The Best Children's Books of 2004" by The Children's Book Committee at the Bank Street College of Education and is, or has been, on Student Choice Award lists in Maine, New Hampshire, Kansas, Missouri, and Tennessee. It is also on the Pennsylvania State Librarians' (PSLA) Young Adult Top 40 Fiction list and the Accelerated Reader list.
CRITICS SAY:
"A tragic accident leaves Will without a leg. Certain that he was destined for life as
a farmer, Will feels agitated as he watches his brothers and father continue in the
life he wanted. He and his sister Cassie decide to spend the winter with their
older sister in a nearby city. There Will is able to see beyond what he
considered a disability, exploring new career paths. Watching as her brother
heals, Cassie is also forced to make some decisions regarding her own future, but
life for a girl in Maine in 1819 offers few options. Each chapter begins with a
passage from Cassie's journal, offering a glimpse of the challenging decisions that
face her and her whole family as they move past the tragedy and into the rest of
their lives. Authentic historical details enrich the already fine writing. A treasure
waiting to be found." -- Kirkus
"A well-drawn setting serves as a vivid backdrop for these sympathetic characters,
making this an unusualy strong historical novel.: -- The Horn Book Magazine
|
|
|
| |
 |
| Seaward Born by Lea Wait |
 |
| St. Michael's Church, Charleston, South Carolina |
|
| |
SEAWARD BORN
by Lea Wait
MARGARET K. McELDERRY BOOKS
ISBN 068984719X 2003
Several years ago Lea came across an 1877 engraving of a young boy leaning on his mop in the steeple of St. Michael’s Church in Charleston, South Carolina, looking toward the sea. She kept going back to the engraving, as the boy became Michael Lautrec (soon to re-name himself Noah Brown) and the year became 1805 ….
Thirteen-year-old Michael knows he is lucky. Few slaves in 1805 Charleston are where they want to be. But Michael works on the docks and ships in Charleston Harbor, close to the seas he longs to sail.
Life seems good. But when his protective mistress dies, Michael’s world changes. His friend Jim encourages him to “steal himself”; to run. Michael is torn.
Mama always taught him, “to get along, you go along.” But Papa wanted him to be free. “You see a possibility, boy, you take it. A fish you pull in as a free man tastes ten times sweeter than a fish you catch for a master.” Now Mama and Papa are both dead, and Michael must decide alone.
Does he dare risk everything for a chance at freedom in some unknown place? If he and Jim are caught, he will have lost everything. Maybe even his life. But is staying safe worth staying a slave?
How Michael makes his decision to flee seaward to freedom is the heart of this moving and dramatic story set in an America where slavery is a way of life in the South, and the journey to freedom one of immense danger.
Note: On page 111 of SEAWARD BORN, line 12, there is a misprint. The line should begin "Moses' wife" -- not "Noah's wife." With thanks to the students in Mrs. Rowell's class at the Adams School in Portland, Maine, for having sharp eyes and finding the error! It will be corrected in the next editions of the book.
SEAWARD BORN was named one of the "Best Children's Books of 2003" by the Bank Street College of Education, selected for the International Reading Association Teachers' Choices Booklist for 2004, and named by the Children's Book Council as a Notable Social Studies Trade Book for Young People 2004. It has been honored by being on Student Choice Award lists in Maine, Florida and South Carolina, and is also a Children's Crown nominee. It is on the Accelerated Reader list and The Keystone State Reading Association list (Pennsylvania.)
CRITICS' COMMENTS:
"Thirteen-year-old Noah Brown tells the story of his escape from slavery. As Michael Lautrec he is hired out to work on the waterfront of Charleston after his parents, one slave, one free, die in a hurricane. Michael loves his work and enjoys his friendship with other hired-out slaves; he keeps in close touch with other Lautrec slaves who form his family. When Mrs.Lautrec, his old mistress, dies, however, everything changes; Anny, Sirrah and Sam are sold to Alabama and Jim persuades young Michael to flee. While stowing away on a cargo ship bound for Massachusetts, Michael changes his name to Noah and begins to take charge of his future ... an excellent illumination of conditions and behavior not explored often enough in children's literature. Those who enjoyed the author's first work must read this one, too.".... Kirkus Reviews
"Resourceful and self-assured, Michael relies on the help of fair-minded men and on the advice he recalls from his deceased parents. His skills as a cook and as a seaman also serve him well on more than one occasion. The smoothly told story presents several scenarios faced by African Americans in the early 1800s, both through the teen's experiences and those of people he talks to. The decision to leave Charleston is not an easy one, as he weighs safety and security against his wish to 'make a life.' His struggles in New England show the complications of living as an escaped slave in the North ... the general fast pace and clear writing make it an accessible story full of thought-provoking situations and well-drawn historical settings." ..School Library Journal
|
|
|
 |
| Stopping to Home by Lea Wait |
|
|
| |
STOPPING TO HOME
Lea Wait
MARGARET K. McELDERRY BOOKS
160 pages, ages 8 - 12 2001
ISBN 0689838328
“Some people are born into the right family. A family that will stay with you no matter what. Some people, like Seth and me, just have each other. That doesn’t mean there isn’t a place for us. It just means no one’s going to set life down in front of us, ready-made.”
- Abigail Chambers
Eleven-year-old Abbie and her younger brother, Seth, have lost their mother to smallpox and their father to the sea. It is 1806, in the Maine seaport of Wiscasset, and their future is uncertain. With no family to watch out for them, Abbie and Seth must find a new life.
Working for the young widow of a sea captain may be a temporary answer – but only if Seth keeps out of trouble and Widow Chase finds a way to support herself.
As the months pass, Abbie and Seth find more questions than answers, until Abbie has an idea that may be the solution for all of them. But first Widow Chase must listen, and Seth must leave the past behind.
STOPPING TO HOME was named a "notable children's book of 2001" by Smithsonian Magazine and a "best of the best" by the Bank Street College. It has been on student choice lists in Rhode Island, West Virginia, and Arkansas, and nominated for a Gold Crown Award. It is on the accelerated reader list.
Critics Say:
"Set in a Maine seaport in 1806, Wait's splendid first novel charts the fate of an 11-year-old girl and her younger brother sent into service in the household of a lonely widow. Anticipating harshness, the children find tolerance and generosity, in a touching story that also serves as a window on everyday life in early 19th century New England." -- Smithsonian Magazine
"A strong and compelling heroine narrates this compelling debut from Wait." -- Publishers Weekly
"A quiet tale of love and belonging... a lyrical text that deftly and painlessly weaves into Abbie's deeply personal story observations about the social and cultural structure of this small, seafaring, town... a novel finely crafted, with a very nearly perfect sense of its setting in place and time." --Kirkus Reviews.
|
|
|
 |
| Village Square, Wiscasset, Maine |
|
|
| |
STOPPING TO HOME was listed as one of the “Notable Children’s Books of 2001” by Smithsonian Magazine, and one of “The Best Children’s Books of 2001” by the Bank Street College of Education (starred review.). It is also listed in Bank Street College's "Best of the Best" list, the most outstanding children's books of 1997-2001, and has been on Student Choice Award lists in Rhode Island, West Virginia and Arkansas, as well as being a Children's Crown Award Nominee. It is on the Accelerated Reader list.
CRITIC’S COMMENTS:
“A quiet tale of love and belonging, set on the coast of Maine in 1806 … Newcomer Wait offers a quietly lyrical text that deftly and painlessly weaves into Abbie’s deeply personal story observations about the social and cultural structure of this small seafaring town … Abbie and Seth emerge as fully fledged characters. Abbie a thoughtful girl with few illusions about the world, and Seth a boy pining for his father and determined to follow in his footsteps … a novel … finely crafted, with a nearly perfect sense of its setting in place and time.” -- Kirkus Reviews
“A strong novel … Life in Wiscasset, Maine (then a territory of the State of Massachusetts) is well captured, as is the longing and dread that the two children experience in their rootless state … The author provides a picture of life and social issues in early 19th century America, while … keeping true to the voice of her pre-teen narrator.” – School Library Journal
“A strong and memorable heroine narrates this compelling debut from Wait, which effectively evokes life in 1806 Maine.” – Publishers Weekly
“Wait’s splendid first novel charts the fate of an 11-year-od girl and her younger brother, sent into service in the household of a lonely widow. Anticipating harshness, the children find tolerance and generosity in a touching story that also serves as a window on everyday life in early 19th century new England.” -- Smithsonian Magazine
“The conclusion of Stopping to Home, the equivalent of the modern expression staying at home, leaves the reader yearning for a sequel … Wait’s name will be added to the list of Maine writers who successfully mine their surroundings and bring to the surface rich material that in insightful, dramatic, and a joy to read.” -- Bangor Daily News
“A touching story about independence, learning to accept help when you need it, and love.” – The Tampa Tribune
“It’s always a pleasure to come upon a new author who is destined to be a stellar addition to the roster of excellent writers …Lea Wait’s books are destined to become classics” – The Bernardsville (NJ) News
“Fans of historical fiction will enjoy the details about everyday life in this compelling tale about children seeking a home … recommended.”
--Book Magazine
|
|
|
|
|
|
