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<\/a>This is the official professional image. The artistic pic at the top of this page is by Karen Salkin.<\/p><\/div>\n
As some of you may know, I was an elementary school teacher the second I got out of college. In that capacity, and as the daughter of Speech and English teachers, (and just as a human being,) I know the power of books for children. They\u2019re so important for every aspect of their development.<\/p>\n
Last year, when I visited a friend who had recently given birth, and one of the gifts I brought was a book, I thought my friend would think I was nuts to give a book to a month-old baby. But another pal there, who had also been a teacher, was impressed\u2014she mentioned that reading to babies<\/em> is paramount to their language, thinking, and social skills as they go along in life.<\/p>\n In all honesty, my expertise in children\u2019s literature is mostly for the very<\/em> young, (e.g. The Cat In The Hat<\/em> and Pat The Bunny<\/em>.) I\u2019m also familiar with a good number of teen-age<\/em> novels, such as the Nancy Drew<\/em> series and my all-time favorite, the very old-fashioned Double Date<\/em>. But I\u2019ve never gotten into stories for the tween<\/em> gang; I really haven\u2019t found tons of fun age-appropriate narratives for that group.<\/p>\n So when my eleven-year-old friend, Marcus Josselyn, and I recently discovered the brand new Summer of L.U.C.K.<\/em>, by first time\u00a0author, Laura Segal Stegman, I was thrilled. (So was his mom, my good friend Amanda, with whom I share all my secrets!) The official description, which we all agree with, is that the story \u201cis about three kids finding their way to self-acceptance with the help of a ghost who haunts a magical carnival.\u201d I love all<\/em> those components, especially the carnival setting since I was in a circus just out of my teens. The entire time I was reading it, I could visualize every physical description. Laura really knows how to paint a picture!<\/p>\n And there are so many other wonderful aspects to Summer of L.U.C.K.<\/em>, too. First of all, even though it doesn\u2019t feature bullying, per se, reading this scenario may make kids more sensitive to not bully others. (Basically, there are just a couple of less-than-nice girls in the tale. But mean kids might recognize their own behavior a bit, and realize that\u2019s not the way to go.)<\/p>\n Marcus Jocelyn about to start reading Summer of L.U.C.K. Photo by Amanda Hazel.<\/p><\/div>\n And it shows kids, and grown-ups, as well, that no one is ever really alone in their insecurities, and that every single one of us is going through something. That\u2019s a valuable take-away from a fun story.<\/p>\n Another valuable message in Summer of L.U.C.K.<\/em> is to try to do good for others. I always say that you wind-up getting so much out of those kindnesses yourself, if only the warmth in your soul, so it was wonderful to see the youngsters in this adventure finding that out for themselves.<\/p>\n The main character is Darby, a girl who stutters. (I want to play her if it becomes a movie!)\u00a0The timing for the debut of this book is perfect–stuttering was just having its moment this summer, because of the young boy who gave a speech at the Democratic National Convention about how Presidential candidate Joe Biden, a fellow stutterer, helped him overcome his pain about his situation. That makes Summer of L.U.C.K.<\/em> especially appropriate for right now.<\/p>\n By the way, stuttering should be no big deal. Here\u2019s my one little tale about it: An old pal, the most gorgeous guy I\u2019ve ever seen in my life, stuttered, (and perhaps still does,) but it never mattered to any of us who knew him. He\u2019s darling, has the best and equally-gorgeous wife ever, a lovely mother, an almost-as-gorgeous brother, and a trio of beautiful, healthy, athletic children, (one who\u2019s actually writing a paper on stuttering right now!) He hasn\u2019t let stuttering stop him. (Perhaps he\u2019s had private<\/em> pain about it, as we all do about something, but it was never obvious when I saw him a lot, coincidentally enough, always in summer<\/em>!) [Note: There are specific places to go to get help with stuttering, but I\u2019m not an expert in the area. If you\u2019re interested in the topic, maybe you should google Joe Biden and see what he<\/em> did in the past to help himself get through it.]<\/p>\n Karen Salkin, sans her usual glamour, being surprised while reading Summer of L.U.C.K. on her deck in this cooler weather. Photo by Mr. X.<\/p><\/div>\n On a personal note, this is how one of my childhood friends so kindly told her young daughter about how I<\/em> was back in elementary school: \u201cKaren was a brain\u2014a fat, ugly, little brain!\u201d Delightful, right? Thank goodness for me, I didn\u2019t know that I was \u201cfat and ugly,\u201d (two words that should never<\/em> be used on anyone<\/em>,) at the age that I was; I just assumed that I was good-looking. When I saw the photos my father took of me, which showed that I was<\/em> a tad chubby with sort-of a funny face, I just chalked it up to that he was a bad photographer! How’s that<\/em> for confidence?!<\/p>\n But, unfortunately, few kids think like that. They envision everything about them as being much worse than it actually is! So books like this one are very much needed, especially for the vulnerable middle-grade set.<\/p>\n Kids go through so<\/em> much these days, especially because of all the information afforded by technology. It\u2019s a breeding ground for low self-esteem. I feel that reading about the situations that the main characters in Summer of L.U.C.K.<\/em> go through can help youngsters immensely in dealing with all their feelings.<\/p>\n Marcus Jocelyn again, this time finishing-up Summer of L.U.C.K., fully engrossed in the tale. Photo by Amanda Hazel.<\/p><\/div>\n That brings me to what a great book it is to read with their parents or a group of their peers. I wonder if kids have Book Clubs like grown-ups do. If not, they should make one just to discuss Summer of L.U.C.K.<\/em>! Marcus, Amanda, and I formed our own little club, with Marcus saying that he \u201cliked how Darby made great new friends at summer camp despite her stutter.\u201d Now isn\u2019t that the way the world should<\/em> be? He added that \u201cit\u2019s really cool that they started the L.U.C.K. club and went on adventures.\u201d Amanda commented, \u201cI like that my son is reading, and enjoying, something that\u2019s not just another graphic novel.\u201d I hear her on that one!<\/p>\n I was worried that perhaps the recent death (before the story begins) of the father of one of the main characters would be hard for tweens, but Marcus didn\u2019t mention it, so I think it\u2019s all good. And it might be a godsend for a reader who has lost someone his-or-herself. This book deals with that topic gently, so it should let those children know that they’re far from alone in that situation.<\/p>\n As someone who always wants people to speak well, (which needs to begin in childhood,) I really appreciate all the great vocabulary in this novel, such as \u201ccalliope\u201d and \u201cqueasy with mortification.\u201d And I love all the creative monikers, for the characters and<\/em> the camp groups and areas. It would take me a couple of years to come up with just a few<\/em> of those!<\/p>\n Like the Harry Potter<\/em> series, I feel that Summer of L.U.C.K.<\/em> is as much for adults as it is\u00a0for tweens and young teens. In addition to all that excellent vocabulary, the life lessons are sooo worthwhile. The main message I got from it, even as a (semi) grown-up, is to have faith and not give up too easily. That’s something I have yet to learn myself, but this story has started me on that path.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/a><\/a>