Librarian teacher discusses children's books. Students are encouraged to contribute their own book review or short summary of fiction or nonfiction books. This blog is of interest to 3rd through 6th graders.

Sparrow Road by Sheila O'Connor

What if your mom moved the two of you to an artist colony for the whole summer against your will? Poor Raine, she couldn't even talk, much less find a phone to call her grandpa for help!
Raine makes some important decisions this summer and meets some very interesting people at Sparrow Road. While Raine's mom is cooking and cleaning, Raine pretty much can do what she wants (except talk) and gains a new perspective on her mother and actually makes friends with the silence. I love the way Raine started writing herself, using her imagination and from morsels of information tucked away in the secrets of the main house.

Here I am with author Sheila O'Conner!
Lucky me, I was fortunate to be able to meet Sheila O'Connor at our librarians' inservice and hear her story of how this novel came to be. We have a place in common—Red Wing—she wrote while in Red Wing at the Anderson Center. In fact, the idea of the artist colony at the Center gave her the idea for the setting for this book. Pretty cool.