Review: SWEET BY AND BY by Patricia Hermes

Published by:  HarperCollins Publishers, New York, NY, 2002
192 pages

First line:  "Tell me about the snowstorm," I said.

If your taste in middle-grade novels runs toward fast-paced adventures, this is not the book for you. It is a quiet, rather sad, very sweet book.

Eleven-year-old Blessing lives with her grandmother, Monnie, up on the mountain. The two make beautiful music together. When Monnie tucks her fiddle under her chin and Blessing lifts her voice to sing, everyone stops talking and scoots closer to hear. Together they make the moutains echo with "The Old Churchyard," "Bar'bry Allen," "Amazing Grace," and "Sweet By and By."

But Monnie's health is declining, and Blessing must confront two terrible fears: Monnie could die, and "Wolf" Cotter, the social worker, could take control of Blessing's life, deciding where and with whom she would live.

Sweet By and By explores the relationships forged among Blessing, Monnie, and the mountain community. It also reveals the struggle Blessing has to gain some control over her own destiny.

Patricia Hermes is the author of nearly fifty books for readers from early middle grades through young adult, as well as two nonfiction books for adults. Her books have won many awards and recognitions, including American Library Association Best Book, Smithsonian Notable Book, and C.S. Lewis Honor Book. She also has won many state awards, four of them for the novel You Shouldn't Have to Say Goodbye.

Taking a Breather--Well, Not Really

I haven't posted anything for a few days, but I've been busy with writerly work, nonetheless. Even though my first manuscript was "complete," I gave it one more perusal before hitting the "Send" button, making a tweak-tweak here and a tweak-tweak there. Of course I continue to write on my WIP, and I'm getting ready to lead  "The Essential Five-Paragraph Essay" workshop for a group of home educators and their students. (I always ask that the parent who teaches English attend and participate in this one.)

Recently, I read my first ARC, and I plan to write a review for it this week. Please stop back to read that. After today's trip to the library, I have three middle-grade novels to read: Ruby Holler by Sharon Creech (Joanna Cotler Books, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers); Sweet By and By by Patricia Hermes (HarperCollins); and North by Night by Katherine Ayres (Delacorte Press).  Can't wait to start turning those pages!

Write on!