April 10, 2008 visiting author Priscilla Cummings

Thanks to funding from the WKMS PTSA, author Priscilla Cummings will be visiting WKMS and will host 3 sessions with students on April 10, 2008.

She is the author of a number of books for middle school students. Including the following:

Red Kayak

Summary: Living near the water on Maryland's Eastern Shore, thirteen-year-old Brady and his best friends, J.T. and Digger, become entangled in a tragedy that tests their friendship and their ideas about right and wrong.

“Voices ring with authenticity, the situation is tense and the stakes high . . . This book is a gem.”
                                                              -- VOYA

2007 Maryland Black-Eyed Susan Book Award Winner
for Grades 6 - 9
2006 American Library Association (ALA) Best Books for Young Adults
A New York Public Library Book for the Teen Age, 2005
An IRA-CBC Children's Choice, 2005
Wisconsin Battle of the Books, 2005
VOYA's Review Editor's Choice List, 2005
State reading lists: Minnesota (2007-2008); Maryland, Pennsylvania, Oklahoma, Illinois, Indiana, New Hampshire, Kentucky and the Young Readers Choice Award list which includes Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington, as well as Alberta and British Columbia in Canada, 2006 -- 2007
Washington Post Summer Reading Book Club (one of ten books), 2006

Visit the WKMS Blog for Red Kayak by Priscilla Cummings and share your comments about the book.

What Mr. Mattero Did

Summary: Three seventh grade girls accuse their music teacher, Mr. Mattero, of touching them inappropriately. The story is told from two points of view: one of the accusing girls and also Mr. Mattero's daughter, who happens to be an eighth grader in the same middle school.

“Riveting and timely, this shocking slice-of-life drama is sure to keep pages turning.”
-- Publishers Weekly
A Junior Library Guild selection, 2005

Saving Grace

When Grace's family is evicted from their Washington D.C. apartment just before Christmas 1932 during The Great Depression, she and her younger siblings are placed in a mission. Grace's stay is cut short when she is invited to spend the holidays with the Hammonds, where they treat her like a daughter. What will happen when it's time for Grace to go home? Are family bonds more important than the security the Hammonds offer her? Inspired by a true story, Saving Grace is a testament to how love and loyalty triumphed during one of the bleakest periods in American history.

“Cummings does an excellent job of showing how easy it is to do wrong when the normal world operates so inequitably. The choices Grace must make are not clear-cut . . . ”  
                                                          -- School Library Journal

• A Junior Library Guild Selection, 2003
• Nominee for the Mark Twain Award, 2006
• State reading lists: Maine, Rhode Island, Nevada, Missouri and New Mexico
  

A Face First

After a catastrophic automobile accident, Kelley wakes up in the hospital to find that her face and body are severely burned. She feels isolated and alone as she agonizes through skin-graft operations, painful dressings and hand exercises that seem like torture. But with the help of her family and friends, a kind nurse, and understanding doctors and therapists, she is able to survive and even triumph. Then she finds out that she has to wear an ugly plastic face mask so that her facial skin won't grow back puffy and hard. How will Kelley ever face the world again?

“Cummings . . . really shines in showing the careful balance of push, pull, and nurturing that must be maintained by the dedicated medical staff who choose to work with fire victims. She understands appearance-conscious adolescents, and leads readers to pull with Kelley in working through the layers of her inner being to reach beyond the mask.”
                                -- Starred Review , School Library Journal

• 2002 American Library Association (ALA) Notable
• Parents' Guide to Children's Media Honor, 2002
• New Mexico Battle of the Books, 2005
• Excerpted in Weekly Reader , 2004
• State Reading lists: Florida, Indiana and Iowa
• Translated into German and South Korean
  

Autumn Journey

When Will Newcomb's father loses his job, things start falling apart. The family's move to Grampa's farm in Pennsylvania is supposed to be a new beginning, but even there Will struggles with the change in his father . . . Autumn Journey is the story of several journeys, not just that of a Canada goose that Will has shot and nurses back to health. It is also the tale of a grandfather's love in the last days of his life, and of a family struggling to stay together in the face of hard times.

“The prose shows the ease and confidence of an old pro, and gives off the power of someone who understands well the human heart…”
                                                             -- Kirkus Reviews

• ABA Pick of the list for Fall of 1997
• Maryland Black-Eyed Susan list, 1999-2000
• Translated into Japanese

For more information on Priscilla Cummings and her books,
please visit Priscilla Cumming's web site.