Those Kids From Fawn Creek

Description

Every day in Fawn Creek feels exactly the same-until Orchid Mason arrives. There are twelve kids in the seventh grade at the Fawn Creek school. They've been together all their lives. In this tiny manufacturing town where everyone knows everything about everyone, that's not necessarily a great thing. There are twelve kids, but thirteen desks. That's because Renni Dean moved to Grand Saintlodge-the next-door town-last year. Renni might have left Fawn Creek, but she still knows their secrets. She's still pulling their strings. When Orchid Mason arrives and slips gracefully into Renni's desk, the other seventh-graders don't know what to think. Orchid is new and exciting. She was born in New York City and has travelled the world. She has lived in Paris, and she tells them stories of the Eiffel Tower and the Love Lock Bridge. She seems to float. Her dress skims the floor. She wears a flower behind her ear. Orchid's arrival is about to upset the tightly knit friendship groups and challenge the hold Renni has over them. Who will claim Orchid Mason? Will she save them? Or will they save her? Those Kids from Fawn Creek is a delightful story of friendship and fitting in, of truth and lies and the things that matter most from beloved Newbery Medal-winning author Erin Entrada Kelly.

New York Times-bestselling author Erin Entrada Kelly was awarded the Newbery Medal for Hello, Universe and a Newbery Honor for We Dream of Space. She is a professor of children's literature in the graduate fiction and publishing programs at Rosemont College. She is also the author of The Land of Forgotten Girls, winner of the Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature; You You Go First, a Spring 2018 Indie Next Pick; Lalani of the Distant Sea, an Indie Next Pick; and Maybe Maybe Marisol Rainey, which she also illustrated.

'Gripping, complex and reassuring. If you need to ditch other people's expectations and reach for the stars, this book is for you!' * Emily Gale * 'A lovely book, filled with warmth and wisdom, delicious humour, and characters I utterly adored-I did not want it to end.' * Jaclyn Moriarty * 'Small-town life for the twelve seventh graders of Fawn Creek, Louisiana, gets turned upside down...when new student Orchid Mason arrives...Kelly has created a strong ensemble cast of students... with realistic problems rooted in family life, friendship, and school. Having grown up pigeonholed into expected roles, how can they fit in while following their own passions?...An emotionally resonant story about authenticity and belonging.' * Kirkus Reviews (starred review) * 'Kelly does a brilliant job here with an ensemble cast...the various characters pop into fully realised 3-D.' * Horn Book (starred review) * 'Uplifting...a raw, real exploration of belonging that's also sweetly hopeful.' * Publishers Weekly (starred review) * 'Newbery Award-winner Kelly delivers another poignant and pitch-perfect middle-grade novel and lays bare quiet truths and universal childhood experiences with tremendous emotional resonance...This powerful and thought-provoking story champions acceptance and serves as a bittersweet reminder to see the beauty in oneself as well as others.' * Shelf Awareness (starred review) * '[Erin Entrada Kelly] is working at the top of the middle grade children's literature game.' * New York Times * 'Kelly deftly manages her large cast of characters to give the reader intimate glimpses of many points of view...This is one of those books that you read in one sitting.' * Magpies * 'This is an interesting, wise, relatable and instructive book for young people who are navigating the Middle Years of schooling.' * ReadPlus * 'Kelly flexes her literary muscle here, presenting strong characters with equally strong voices...The style is effortless and the readability is second to none...[Those Kids from Fawn Creek] is a story about friendship, and about connecting with others in a tumultuous time of life.' * NZ Booklovers *