Friday Focus - Elly Swartz

Clipart: OpenClipArt

Our very first "Friday Focus" author is a favorite of mine, Elly Swartz! I first met Elly at a debut party for the "Sweet Sixteens." Her debut novel, Finding Perfect was published in 2016. Get it? Sweet Sixteens?

She just bubbles with enthusiasm and generosity, as you will see when you explore the Padlet her young friend Olivia* created for her second book, Smart Cookie. Olivia's Padlet is called "Long Liv Books." There is a lot to explore here, so have fun! There are links to videos of Elly Swartz reading Smart Cookie aloud! If you are looking for a book to read, how about trying Smart Cookie? 

Here's a link to her website.
Be sure to check out her "Books in the Kitchen" videos too.

I have read all three of Ms. Swartz's books. Here are three mini-book talks:

Image: Macmillan

 

Molly Nathan likes things just so. Her cherished collection of glass animals has to be arranged perfectly. Her homework is not allowed to have one erasure. She's at odds with odd numbers. And that moment just before she recites her poetry in the slam, is perfect. Unfortunately, it's getting harder for Molly to achieve perfect. Her brother keeps disturbing her animals. The work is getting harder in school. The rituals she keeps to keep her anxiety down are starting to get in the way. She's terrified that her best friend might find out. She's also yearning for her mom to return to the family. She thinks that if she wins the poetry slam, her mom will have to come back.

Eleven-year-old Frankie Greene is a girl with a secret. She lives with her widowed dad and maternal grandmother in a bed and breakfast that distinguishes itself by being named for board games and serving homemade, fresh from the oven cookies at check-in. She has a lot of responsibility helping her dad run the B & B. She'd also like a mother so she has posted a profile for her dad on a dating site and is screening "possibles." Frankie is not the only family member with secrets. Gram has a locked shed in the backyard and maybe a secret boyfriend at the senior center. Dad is having whispered arguments with a sleazy developer who wants the B & B. Her best friend, Elliot is obsessed with finding ghosts and her former best friend, Jessica is just being vile.

Image: Scholastic

Image: Macmillan

You may remember this book talk from a "Middle Grade Monday" post earlier this month!

Change is hard! Children in particular, might have a hard time coping with change, especially when it brings sadness, as is Maggie's case. She's been hit by a triple-whammy of change. Maggie's beloved grandmother recently died, but before that, she suffered from dementia. One day, her grandmother just forgot who Maggie was. So Maggie began saving things in order not to forget anything in her life. Only these weren't just memorable objects. They were odd things, like gum wrappers and empty milk containers.

Then she finds out that her shooting coach father has invited a boy to join her all girl trap-shooting team! And, when her family temporarily fosters a newborn named Isabella, Maggie becomes attached. Even though her mother cautions that the situation is only temporary, Maggie hopes Izzy will stay. Her compulsion to save/ hoard gets out of control. And so does her anger. When her mother discovers her hoard of stuff.

* Apologies to Olivia for not realizing that it was she and not Elly who created the Padlet. Way to go Olivia!