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My local newspaper, the Newton Tab, printed a nice article about me and my new book, along with a picture. Here's the link: http://www.wickedlocal.com/newton/news/x1700916463/Newton-author-draws-on-teenage-experience-in-new-book#axzz1JvMJXwXD
Thank you Newton Tab!
The BCCB came out with a wonderful review of MILLION MILES in the April issue. I was particularly happy to see that the reviewer focused on Lucy's yearnings for the older girls even as she rejects her dad's girlfriend. Lately I've been thinking about how I'm going to talk to kids about this book. And I've decided that one thing I will focus on is the idea that it should be read through a "lens of grief." If this is the case, then what do you make of Lucy's interest in the older girls? In her avoiding Dad's girlfriend? Here it is:
Day, Karen, A Million Miles from Boston. Lamb, 2011 [224p] Library ed. ISBN 978-0-385-90763-7?$18.99 Trade ed. ISBN 978-0-385-73899?$15.99 E-book ed. ISBN 978-0-375-89690-3?$15.99 Reviewed from galleys R:Gr. 5-7 Summer for Lucy always means the family seaside cottage in Pierpoint, Maine, where she relishes the long-term summer community’s unchanging traditions. Unfortunately, this summer, the one before her entry into seventh grade, seems to be all about change: her in-school nemesis, popular and obstreperous Ian, turns out to be vacationing in the neighboring cottage, and her widowed father is beginning to press her to accept his new girlfriend, Julia. There’s a solid, old-school feel to the story (even down to the detail that both Dad and his girlfriend lost their spouses to death, not divorce) and a gentleness to the timeless world of summer vacations, where kids pelt around together under minimal adult supervision. The emotions are still all keen and current, though, and Day does a particularly fine job of quietly depicting Lucy’s yearning for older female approval (she’s a sucker for attention from older girls, including Ian’s older sister, even as she resists Julia’s overtures). Her evolving relationship with Ian avoids predictability, too, since it’s clear that she really is kind of bossy and rigid and overreactive and that Ian isn’t necessarily any more flawed than she is. It’s a classic summer-growth story, and kids who wish for their own oceanfront cottages and pivotal seasons will enjoy sharing Lucy’s. DS
There are lots of people out there blogging about books. And then there are people like Jen Robinson who REALLY blogs about books. And not just random reviews or recaps of other blogs but thoughtful posts that explore all aspects of this crazy world of kid lit. But I think it's the reviews that I like the most. They are always insightful and fair. So I was thrilled to open her blog last week and see a review of A MILLION MILES FROM BOSTON. She liked - thank goodness! - Lucy, my main character, and the setting (wonderful coastal Maine). But mostly what I appreciated was that she got what I was trying to do: that in stead of being a plot device, mom's death and Lucy's understanding of it would form the main theme in the book. Thanks, Jen! http://jkrbooks.typepad.com/blog/2011/03/a-million-miles-from-boston-karen-day.html#comments
The first review for A MILLION MILES FROM BOSTON is in, and it's a good one. Thanks, Publisher's Weekly:
A Million Miles from Boston Karen Day, Random/Lamb, $15.99 (224p) ISBN 978-0-385-73899-6 Day delivers a well-paced, realistic "summer of change" story. Lucy's family has been vacationing at Pierson Point in Maine since her father was young, and Lucy, anxious about entering middle school, is looking forward to the kind of summer she's always enjoyed with him, her younger brother, and her faithful black Lab, Superior. Pierson Point also holds warm memories of her mother, who died of cancer when Lucy was six, and Lucy is passionately attached to the Point's comforting traditions and age-worn edifices. This year, however, two figures threaten her peace of mind: Julia, her father's increasingly serious girlfriend, and her aggravating classmate, Ian, from home, whose family has bought a house on the Point. Day (No Cream Puffs) sympathetically portrays Lucy's overriding sense of responsibility for everybody's happiness, especially her father and the kids in the informal "day camp" she runs ("More than anything, I wanted the kids to be happy. I wanted them to have great memories of camp, that summer, the Point"), and Day persuasively renders Lucy's uneasiness with her complex shifting emotions and memories. Ages 8–12. (Apr.)
