Waiting on Wednesday: The Ambassador of Nowhere Texas by Kimberly Willis Holt

Image: Macmillan Publishers

The Ambassador of Nowhere Texas by Kimberly Willis Holt. 320 p. Henry Holt Books for Young Readers/ Macmillan Publisher, January 12, 2021. 9781250234100.

Happy Wednesday! While I am glad to be back with my students, it has been hared settling back into my school routine. I will admit that I am not yet used to sitting on Zoom for hour-long stretches. I have everyone get up and stretch halfway through our class and pretty much encourage them to move as necessary throughout the class. Virtual learning is so hard! My dog, Boo, has been pouting. He got used to lots of outdoor time and long walks over the the break. He follows me everywhere. On Monday morning, he followed me upstairs and then stopped dead in the doorway of the room I virtual teach from. I had to coax him in and, after receiving a treat, he plopped on the floor with his back to me.

Waiting on Wednesday features The Ambassador of Nowhere Texas by Kimberly Willis Holt. This is a companion novel of sorts to Ms. Holt's National Book Award-winning, When Zachary Beaver Came to Town. Here's the publisher synopsis: Decades after the Vietnam War and Toby’s life-changing summer with Zachary Beaver, Toby’s daughter Rylee is at a crossroads—her best friend Twig has started pushing her away just as Joe, a new kid from New York, settles into their small town of Antler. Rylee befriends Joe and learns that Joe’s father was a first responder on 9/11. The two unlikely friends soon embark on a project to find Zachary Beaver and hopefully reconnect him with Rylee's father almost thirty years later.

This beautiful middle grade novel is a tribute to friendships—old and new—and explores the challenges of rebuilding what may seem lost or destroyed.

I can't wait to read this and we don't need to wait long! The Ambassador of Nowhere Texas releases next Tuesday and I am using one of the AZ gift cards I received for the holiday to buy it! After I read it, it will go in a box of books I'm donating to our library's collection. I donate a fair number of books to the collection each year, but this year, I received $0 to buy new books. Hopefully, my budget will be restored next year.