Forgiven
Synopsis of Forgiven:
Kula Baker never expected to find herself on the streets of San Francisco in 1906. The daughter of an outlaw, Kula is soon swept up in a world of art and elegance – a world she hardly dared dream of back in Montana. She meets the handsome David Wong, whose smiling eyes and soft-spoken manner have an uncanny way of breaking through Kula’s carefully crafted reserve. Yet when a mighty earthquake strikes and the wreckage threatens all she holds dear, Kula realizes that only by unlocking her heart can she begin to carve a new future for herself.
“A new century lay open before us, where all things could be made clean and shiny, even a man’s soul. Why, if it was true as I’d heard tell, that men could get up in the air in flying machines – imagine! Men flying like birds! – why, then, anything was possible.
Wasn’t it? Couldn’t I lift out of here until I was wrapped in the blue bowl of the sky, free? Couldn’t I fly like a swallow out over these thick-timbered woods, these braided rivers and steaming rocks and sullen springs and hulking peaks?”
Awards and praise for Forgiven:
Romance Times: “Fox is a skilled writer who creates a multifaceted heroine surviving in the early 1900s… she proves she’s a heroine worth reading about.”
Booklist: “Kula Baker, who had a small role in Fox’s engaging Faithful (2010), takes center stage as she journeys from Yellowstone to San Francisco…Slowly and at great peril, she uncovers secrets of the past. The San Francisco earthquake and acute class consciousness of Kula’s Native American roots feature hugely in this gripping tale.”
School Library Journal: “Fox manages to weave the many strings of the plot together nicely, with everything reaching a climax during the aftermath of the 1906 earthquake that leveled the city. Kula’s story comes to a heartbreaking, bittersweet conclusion that will leave readers satisfied.”
Kathi Appelt (author of the Newbery Honor Book The Underneath): “…A riveting, well-written, wonderful story…As I followed Kula Baker from the heart of Yellowstone…to the heart of San Francisco…I felt my own heart racing.”
Nancy Werlin (National Book Award finalist and New York Times bestselling author of Impossible): “Absorbing, exciting, and romantic.”
2011 Junior Library Guild Selection
Book information for Forgiven:
Publisher: Speak/Penguin Group, 2011
ISBN 978-0-14-241414-9
Ages 12 +
Order from Indiebound, or Barnes and Noble
Download the Teacher’s Activity Guide for Forgiven
Faithful
Synopsis of Faithful:
In 1904 Margaret Bennet has it all – money, position, and an elegant family home in Newport, Rhode Island. But just as she is to enter society, her mother ruins everything, first with public displays, and then by disappearing. Maggie’s confusion and loss are compounded when her father drags her to Yellowstone National Park, where he informs her that they will remain. At first Maggie’s only desire is to return to Newport. But the mystical beauty of the Yellowstone landscape, and the presence of young Tom Rowland, a boy unlike the others she has known, conspire to change Maggie from a spoiled girl willing to be constrained by society to a free-thinking and brave young woman living in a romantic landscape at the threshold of a new century.
“I could not escape the question of what would become of me. In one direction my future was wide open. A great gaping hole waited there with nothing to hold me up. I imagined I was standing at my window at home, right at the sill, or on the cliff facing the sea. What would it be like to leap, to let go and fall?”
Awards and praise for Faithful:
Booklist: “Fox combines mystery, romance, and a young girl’s coming-of-age in this satisfying historical tale.”
School Library Journal: “The wilderness of Yellowstone…is lovingly and beautifully depicted…the gradual revelation of the truth about Maggie’s mother, the developing relationship between Maggie and Tom, and the thrilling episodes sprinkled throughout will engage readers.”
YALSA 2011 Nominee: Best Fiction for Young Adults
Amelia Bloomer List Selection for 2011
Book information for Faithful
Publisher: Speak/Penguin Group, 2010
ISBN 978-0-14-241413-2
Ages 12 +
Order from Indiebound, or Barnes and Noble
Download the Teacher’s Activity Guide for Faithful
Get Organized Without Losing It
Synopsis of Get Organized Without Losing It:
Kids: If your desk is a disaster, and your locker is a shocker, this book is for you! Full of you-can-do-it ways to manage the major messes in your life, “Get Organized” will help you put your stuff in order, manage your time, plan your work and work your plan. It’s a sure-fire way to turn stress into more free time!
Parents and teachers: One of the books in Free Spirit’s Laugh and Learn series, “Get Organized” will help the kids you know who have issues with their stuff, or with time management.
Awards and praise for Get Organized Without Losing It:
Voice of Youth Advocates (VOYA) Magazine: “Fox uses humor to provide practical, easy-to-follow ideas for organizing desks, backpacks, and lockers; managing time for homework and after school activities; planning long-term projects; and taking better notes…a great book for middle school and junior high teens when they have more subjects and activities to manage.”
Jamie Novak, professional organizer: “Well-written, easy ideas, and simple techniques. You’ll refer to this book often!”
Watermark Books (review by Elizabeth Golay, age 10): “Now this really helps. I am a kid and I can get messy, trust me. This book already helped me.”
Additude Magazine: “ I wish I’d found a book like this years ago. Author Janet Fox provides easy-to-follow strategies for organization…I was amazed to find that so much useful information could be packed into 100 pages.”
National Association of Parent Publications Awards (NAPPA): 2006 award-winner
Midwest Independent Publisher’s Association (MIPA) Midwest Book Awards: 2007 merit award.
Book information for Get Organized Without Losing It:
Publisher: Free Spirit Publishing, 2006
ISBN 978-1-57542-193-3
Grades 3-6
106 pages. Includes pages that may be photocopied for individual use.
Cover illustration by Marieka Heinlen
Copyright 2006 by Free Spirit Publishing
ISBN-13: 978-1-57542-193-3
ISBN-10: 1-57542-193-3
Order from Indiebound, or Barnes and Noble
Download the Activity Guide for Get Organized Without Losing It