Brush strokes of magical realism elevate this beyond a simple story of friendship to a well-crafted tale of community and fellowship, of sweetness, sorrow and hope. And, Otis, oh yes, Otis, whose music charms the gerbils, rabbits, snakes and lizards he’s let out of their cages in the pet store. Then, there’s nearly blind Gloria Dump, who hangs the empty bottle wreckage of her past from the mistake tree in her back yard.

Enter Winn-Dixie, a dog who “looked like a big piece of old brown carpet that had been left out in the rain.” But, this dog had a grin “so big that it made him sneeze.” And, as Opal says, “It’s hard not to immediately fall in love with a dog who has a good sense of humor.” Because of Winn-Dixie, Opal meets Miss Franny Block, an elderly lady whose papa built her a library of her own when she was just a little girl and she’s been the librarian ever since. India Opal’s mama left when she was only three, and her father, “the preacher,” is absorbed in his own loss and in the work of his new ministry at the Open-Arms Baptist Church of Naomi. 9-12)Ī 10-year old girl learns to adjust to a strange town, makes some fascinating friends, and fills the empty space in her heart thanks to a big old stray dog in this lyrical, moving, and enchanting book by a fresh new voice. Nonetheless, behind what reads like a fictionalized historical summary for young children are hints of a genuine literary gift. LeZotte repeatedly cuts away from the action to explain historical context and define terms, content better suited to a prose introduction or afterword than to verse.

Brief, generic vignettes fail to bring the story to life. This short, debut novel-in-verse by a deaf author is thin on characterization and confusing in chronology. When T4 officially ends, Paula returns home, bringing Kurt with her. They wander toward Berlin, but after a brief sojourn with a Jewish family in hiding, they return to the shelter. There she meets Kurt, a strange man who persuades her to leave with him. For her safety, Paula is sent into hiding, first with a woman who teaches her to sign, then to a church shelter. Paula Becker, deaf since infancy, lives in a small German town with her loving family until the Nazi government initiates Action T4, a program whose ultimate goal is to euthanize people with disabilities.

Show me a sign ann clare lezotte