In Kentucky, Theo had been in the same class with the same twelve kids forever. Uncle Raymond moves Theo from Kentucky to Destiny, Florida. His grandparents had raised him until their health failed, and then turned him over to Uncle Raymond, whom Theo “had never laid his eyes on.” Theo’s parents died when he was four years old. He learned this skill during his time in the Army. It’s May 1974, and Theo has fallen into the hands of his mother’s brother, Uncle Raymond, a Vietnam veteran who has been working in Alaska since his war ended as a mechanic. The hero of Scattergood’s latest YA book, The Way to Stay in Destiny (Scholastic, 192 pp., $16.99, hardcover $6.99, paper $10.99, Kindle), is an orphan named Thelonious (Theo) Monk Thomas by his hippie parents. She tells us she has “devoted her life and career to getting books into the hands of young readers.” Her 2012 book Glory Be was a Texas Bluebonnet Award nominee. Augusta Scattergood is a children’s book author and reviewer and a former librarian.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |