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by S. Rose
by S. Rose
In the summer of 1962, ten year-old Cassandra Parsons has her life all figured out. She lives with her father and mother in the upstairs flat of a well-appointed two family house, in a pleasant neighborhood of Racine, Wisconsin. Her maternal aunt and grandfather live right downstairs, and her best friend Kitty has always lived two doors down. These facts of life seem as immutable as the tat-tat-tat of her grandfather’s clock, steadfastly keeping time on the mantle while they play their Sunday after-church game of dominoes.
Cassandra’s well-ordered world comes undone when she moves with her parents to the backwoods of Northern Wisconsin, to renovate and manage her grandfather’s hunting lodge. Isolated and friendless, she is left to her own devises as her parents plunge themselves into their new business endeavor. Loneliness and self-pity gradually give way as she learns to appreciate the beauty of nature and the peace of quietude. Soon she meets a half-Ojibwa Indian girl named Sparrow who lives in dire rural poverty. They become fast friends and have a final fling with childhood, spending their last carefree days fishing in the river and roaming the woods, pretending to be ancient Ojibwa, and forging a bond that hopefully holds them through even the darkest of times.
Florida Book Award
Silver Medal for General Fiction
“Ms. Rose writes coming of age stories as well as anybody within the genre. Her ability to bring characters to life is an admirable skill, to be sure. However, it is her rare gift of moving readers to actually care for her characters that sets her stories apart from other writers working in the coming-of-age genre.” – Review, Koobugs
“A captivating, powerful, and superbly written coming of age story that will enrich readers of all ages. Worthy of making the required reading list in American high schools.” — Mary Jane Little, former director of St. Johns County Public Library System in St. Augustine; Florida’s 2006 Librarian of the Year
“I recently read Sparrow in the Wind, by S. Rose, with my high school book and writing club. We all loved it! The members range from grades 9-12, and represent a wide variety of interests and ability levels. Each student said that he/she could relate to this novel on some personal level, as it explores a number of universal themes, and controversial issues that are as relevant today as they were when the story takes place in 1962. The author’s style is fresh, creatively descriptive, and insightful—a great read for everyone from teens to the elderly. I plan to teach Sparrow in the Wind as a contemporary work of classic American literature.” — Cleora Doner, English teacher of 42 years, Santa Fe High School, Alachua, FL
Details
Details
Bink Books YA
Bink Books
328 pp. ● 6×9
$16.95 (pb) ● $8.95 (eb)
ISBN 978-1-943837-06-9 (pb)
FICTION / Cultural Heritage
FICTION / Indigenous
S. Rose is a Massachusetts native, happily living in North Central Florida since 2002, where she’s never seen snow again and the only ice is in the freezer. She makes her home in rural High Springs with two dogs, a parrot and two tanks of saltwater fish. When not writing (or cleaning up after her animal companions) she delights in swimming and kayaking the sublime Ichetucknee River, and often swims with manatees during the winter months. Sienna calls these excursions her “daytrips to heaven.” Sienna graduated magna cum laude with a BA in psychology from UMASS Boston in 1996. She went on to earn an M.Ed. in school counseling at Cambridge College, Cambridge, MA. She works as an independent educational consultant and advocate for students with disabilities.In 2012, Sienna self-published her first novel, Bridge Ices Before Road, followed by a two-part science fiction saga, Song of the Manatee.
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