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ENTRY TYPE:
WORK TITLE: The Secret of Honeycake
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE:
WEBSITE: http://www.kimberlynewtonfusco.com/
CITY: Foster
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LAST VOLUME: SATA 236
RESEARCHER NOTES:
PERSONAL
Married; children.
EDUCATION:Columbia University, M.S. (journalism).
ADDRESS
CAREER
Journalist, author, and editor. Worcester Telegram & Gazette, Worcester, MA, reporter and editor for fifteen years. Presenter at schools; speaker at conferences.
AVOCATIONS:Hiking, running, bicycling.
MEMBER:Awards for journalism; Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, New England chapter.
AWARDS:Schneider Family Book Award, American Library Association (ALA), 2004, for Tending to Grace; Amelia Bloomer listee, ALA Schneider Family Book Award, Best Children’s Book selection, Bank Street College, and Parents Choice Silver Medal, all 2010, all for The Wonder of Charlie Anne; Bank Street College of Education Best Children’s Book of the Year for Beholding Bee.
WRITINGS
SIDELIGHTS
Kimberly Newton Fusco is quick to admit that she grew up believing that she would become a writer. From haunting her local library as a child, she graduated to writing for a church youth-group magazine, and then went on to study writing and journalism in college. Fusco worked as a journalist, writing and editing for Massachusetts’s Worcester Telegram & Gazette for fifteen years, before turning her attention to poetry and fiction. Her novels for young adults, Tending to Grace and The Wonder of Charlie Anne, are united by their focus on resilient young women. “I am drawn to strong girls who face adversity and through their own determination, press on,” Fusco noted in an interview with Dell Smith for the Beyond the Margins Web site. “In Tending to Grace, Cornelia must confront her stuttering and in The Wonder of Charlie Anne, Charlie Anne must confront her reading disability and the racism around her.”
Fusco draws on her own experiences in her award-winning first novel, Tending to Grace , which focuses on a fourteen-year-old stutterer named Cornelia Thornhill. Although she is an avid reader, Cornelia is put in the easy class in her city school, and her stuttering keeps her from developing friendships. At home Cornelia’s life is different: she acts as cook and housekeeper and caretaker to her mother, Lenore, because Lenore is depressed and eats poorly if she eats at all. In fact, Lenore takes up so much of the teen’s energy that when she disappears on a trip with her current boyfriend, Cornelia has no place to put her energy. Fortunately, the lack of demands helps the girl finally focus on her own life when she is taken in by her great-aunt Agatha, who lives a quiet life in a rural New England town. The teen’s “struggles and emotions draw the reader into this quiet story,” noted a Kirkus Reviews writer, and Booklist critic Hazel Rochman dubbed Tending to Grace a “quiet, beautiful first novel” that features “wonderful drama” mixed with “helpless laughter.” Fusco’s fiction debut also earned praise from Susan W. Hunter, the critic writing in School Library Journal that Tending to Grace “poetically portrays the human potential to fly after emerging from a cocoon of neglect.”
Set during the Great Depression of the 1930s, The Wonder of Charlie Anne is enriched by Fusco’s research into an old one-room schoolhouse in Massachusetts, and her interviews with the local residents who attended classes in this building during the early twentieth century. In the novel, eleven-year-old Charlie Anne watches her world fall apart after her widowed father leaves the family farm to find paying work building roads for the U.S. government. Left in the care of her sullen cousin Mabel, Charlie Anne has a harder time dealing with the change than do her siblings. Fortunately, the energetic new wife of a neighbor adds a spark to her life, and the woman’s adopted daughter, Phoebe, quickly becomes a best friend. Phoebe is African American and Charlie Anne is white, and when racial issues begin to surface in town, the girls realize that their friendship may serve more than each other. Noting that each of Fusco’s characters “adds flavor” to the novel, Carol A. Edwards concluded that Charlie Anne’s narration “resonates as she confronts both the hardships and unfairness of life.” “Good humor, kindness, and courage triumph in this warm, richly nuanced novel,” asserted a Kirkus Reviews writer, while in Booklist Anne O’Malley deemed The Wonder of Charlie Anne “a poignant tale of fighting odds and struggling to find one’s strengths.”
“I write for young people because books were such an important part of my life as a child,” Fusco confided during her interview with Smith. “I would walk to my town library every few days and get a new stack of books and read them for hours in my tree house. To be able to give that gift to another child is what keeps me writing.”
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In the World War II era Beholding Bee, 11-year-old Bee is an orphan living with Ellis’s traveling carnival and working at the hot dog stand where the attendees make fun of her for the diamond shaped birthmark on her face. A nice woman, Pauline, looks after her, but when Ellis intends to put Bee on display as a freakshow, she runs away. Accompanied by a mangy dog she adopts, Bee finds a house where two older women, Mrs. Swift and Mrs. Potter, take her in and teach her about her heritage and her worth. Because only Bee can see the women, she soon realizes they are the ghosts of her ancestral grandmothers. A contributor to Publishers Weekly noted that Fusco demonstrates “a strong handle on her WWII-era setting, and she delicately describes the stress of being viewed as different.” Writing in Booklist, Anne O’Malley called the book a “unique feel-good story about an appealing heroine, her rallying angels, and the search for love and home.”
The charming Chasing Augustus finds feisty sixth-grader Rosie looking for her lost dog, Augustus. After her mother abandoned the family, Rosie lives with her loving father. But after he has a debilitating stroke, Rosie’s emotionally distant mother returns and gives away her beloved dog. Rosie has her hands full living with her paternal grandfather, searching for Augustus, and being afraid her mother will take her away. Rosie encounters other characters who help her, such as her teacher, a boy with a mentally unstable mother, a chatterbox girl, and a mute woman. “There are no easy answers for Rosie, but through her own determination and with the help of a trusted few, she learns to find her way,” reported BookPage reviewer Alice Cary. Writing in Kirkus Reviews, a critic noted: “it’s Rosie’s heart and determined spirit that see her through to a hopeful, well-deserved resolution.”
Fusco next wrote The Secret of Honeycake, set in 1930 in coastal Maine about a shy orphan. Eleven-year-old Hurricane’s world is turned upside down. Her father died in the Great War and her mother from tuberculosis. Her older sister also has tuberculosis and lives in a sanitorium. Wealthy Aunt Claire, who lives in the city, takes Hurricane in, but their two personalities clash. Hurricane is quiet but also a free spirit, but Claire wants to transform her into a “proper” young lady. On Hurricane’s side is Claire’s kindly chauffeur and cook, Mr. Keats, who, along with a feral cat and a boy selling fish, help Hurricane learn to speak up for herself.
“Short chapters and frank text entreat to young readers and challenges them to forge their own paths,” said a reviewer in Publishers Weekly. “Hurricane employs stunningly beautiful, highly descriptive language to narrate her own tale with a depth of feeling and growing awareness of her attributes,” declared a contributor to Kirkus Reviews. Writing in Horn Book, Betty Carter remarked that the author “takes her time developing the Depression-era setting and the backgrounds of each character, giving this heartwarming novel depth and authenticity.”
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BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Booklist, August, 2004, Hazel Rochman, review of Tending to Grace, p. 1924; September 1, 2010, Anne O’Malley, review of The Wonder of Charlie Anne, p. 110; February 1, 2013, Anne O’Malley, review of Beholding Bee, p. 62.
BookPage, October 2017, Alice Cary, review of Chasing Augustus, p. 30.
Horn Book, March-April 2025, Betty Carter, review of The Secret of Honeycake, p. 70.
Kirkus Reviews, April 15, 2004, review of Tending to Grace; July 1, 2010, review of The Wonder of Charlie Anne; November 15, 204, review of The Secret of Honeycake; June 1, 2017, review of Chasing Augustus.
Publishers Weekly, July 5, 2004, review of Tending to Grace, p. 56; December 17, 2012, review of Beholding Bee, p. 59; October 14, 2024, review of The Secret of Honeycake, p. 88.
School Library Journal, May, 2004, Susan W. Hunter, review of Tending to Grace, p. 148; October, 2010, Carol A. Edwards, review of The Wonder of Charlie Anne, p. 116.
ONLINE
Beyond the Margins Web site, http://beyondthemargins.com/ (November 3, 2010), Dell Smith, interview with Fusco.
Kimberly Fusco Home Page, http://www.kimberlynewtonfusco.com (November 25, 2011).
Kimberly Newton Fusco Web log, http://kimberlynewtonfusco.blogspot.com (November 25, 2011).
I’ve written five novels for young readers, all published by Knopf Books for Young Readers/Penguin Random House.
How did this amazing thing happen to a child like me?
First, a bit of backstory.
I was a young person who stuttered. My words didn’t come out right and they got all jumbled up and blocked up and speaking was very difficult for me.
The hardest thing was saying my name and I couldn’t do it and so I stayed silent. I was teased and I tried to pretend that it didn't bother me. Sometimes I laughed along because I didn’t know what else to do about the kids who would mimic me.
Sometimes, I hid. Even adults would say things like slow down, relax, take a breath, or sometimes they’d say: "What’s wrong, don’t you know you own name?" Or they’d look away, embarrassed, and that was the worst of all.
I was incredibly shy and more than anything I wanted to hide. I turned to books to find strong characters who could survive, no matter what hurdles stood in front of them. I had no idea at the time what an incredible and wonderful miracle they would become in my life, but it wasn’t long before they were as important to me as breathing. Books were the first miracle in my life.
I realized books made me stronger and my life better. And do you know what happens when you read a lot of books? Sometimes you start thinking, I would like to do that, I would like to write a book! And that’s just what happened to me, and that became the second amazing and wonderful miracle in my life. I found that when I wrote I was happy and peaceful and my heart soared.
Suddenly, by the time I was in the sixth grade, I had a voice!
I let my pen do the talking for me!
I started writing ALL THE TIME!
And teachers became the third miracle in my life. They noticed my writing and said I was talented, and they pushed me and encouraged me and believed in me. They showed me that my stuttering did not determine my future. With hard work, I could choose my own destiny. And I decided it would be writing.
My first published work was in a national church paper. It was a anti-war poem. By the time I was 19 and a student in college, I was getting paid for my newspaper writing. I was a journalist for the next 20 years, much of that time as an education writer. I kept Charlotte’s Web on my desk because E.B. White’s prose is so beautiful.
I tell this story to young readers today because it seems we all have some sort of adversity to confront – for some it is on the outside for all to see, for others it is more interior. But we all have something. It seems to be universal. It is part of what makes us human.
I was able to climb mountains with the love and support of my family, from great books, and, a pen.
In writing I found the magic that fixes things.
And, I haven’t stopped.
Kimberly Newton Fusco
Kimberly Newton Fusco is the author of two other novels, Tending to Grace and The Wonder of Charlie Anne, both of which garnered many accolades, and of the upcoming Me and Gloaty Gus. Before becoming a novelist, she was an award-winning reporter and editor for the Worcester Telegram & Gazette. Ms. Fusco lives in Foster, Rhode Island, with her family.
New and upcoming books
January 2025
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The Secret of Honeycake
Series
Beholding Bee
1. Beholding Bee (2013)
2. The Daring Escape of Beatrice and Peabody (2013)
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Novels
Tending to Grace (2004)
The Wonder of Charlie Anne (2010)
Chasing Augustus (2017)
The Secret of Honeycake (2025)
Kimberly Newton Fusco is an award-winning Knopf author for young readers. Her four novels are: Tending to Grace, which received the American
Library Association’s Schneider Family Book Award, The Wonder of Charlie
Anne, a Parents Choice Silver Medalist, Beholding Bee, a Bank
Street College of Education Best Children’s Book of the Year, and Chasing Augustus, a finalist for the Julia Ward Howe Award from the Boston Authors Club, and which Kirkus called "gripping and magnificent" in a starred review. Her most recent novels are also published by Faber & Faber, London. She is a former education writer and editor and is a graduate of the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism in NYC. She and her husband
have four children and live in Foster, RI
Beholding Bee
Kimberly Newton Fusco. Knopf, $16.99
(336p) ISBN 978-0-375-86836-8
Eleven-year-old Bee is sensitive about the prominent diamond-shaped birthmark on her face, which she hides with her hair. Ever since her parents' death, Bee been raised at a traveling carnival, working the hot dog stand with a young woman named Pauline (between chopping onions and cruel comments from fairgoers about her face, Bee spends much of the book's early chapters sobbing). When Bee's future with Pauline is jeopardized, Bee runs away CI do not have much of a plan except we need a home that will take a girl with a diamond on her face, a funny-looking dog ... and a baby pig"). Two strange women, Mrs. Swift and Mrs. Potter, take her in, and Bee's life improves dramatically, but her "aunts" barely eat, and no one else can see them. Fusco (The Wonder of Charlie Anne) has a strong handle on her WWII-era setting, and she delicately describes the stress of being viewed as different. But while Bee has suffered mightily, the magic-and coincidence-driven events of the second half result in an ending that's too good to be true. Ages 8-12. (Feb.)
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2012 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
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"Beholding Bee." Publishers Weekly, vol. 259, no. 51, 17 Dec. 2012, p. 59. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A312724713/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=6a99c27f. Accessed 2 May 2025.
Fusco, Kimberly Newton BEHOLDING BEE Knopf (Children's Fiction) $16.99 2, 12 ISBN: 978-0-375-86836-8
Ever since her parents died, young Bee has had two protectors: Pauline, who runs the hot dog cart with her in Ellis' traveling show, and the old lady in the flappy hat, invisible to all but Bee. In a distinct, heartfelt voice, Bee explains how both provide comfort when superstitious, often mean, townsfolk stare at the diamond-shaped birthmark on her face. When Ellis threatens to put her in a "look-see booth" to boost wartime ticket sales, then forces Pauline and Bee apart, Bee runs away and finds herself on the old lady Mrs. Potter's doorstep. The setup is slow-moving and feels more coincidental than supernaturally driven, but the scenes of Bee adjusting to life with not one but two ghosts (a Mrs. Swift occupies the house, too) offer humor and inspiration. The spirited ladies are determined to make sure Bee is standing firmly on her own two feet before they disappear. A disabled schoolmate and her family help to ground Bee, too. Bee works hard, forges friendships and learns her family history. In a turn of events, she also rescues Pauline. If the parts are a bit disjointed and the ending pat, readers will still feel the magic when Bee finally holds her head high and lets her diamond shine. Not quite a flawless gem, but there are plenty of moments that sparkle. (Historical fiction. 8-12)
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2013 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
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"Fusco, Kimberly Newton: BEHOLDING BEE." Kirkus Reviews, 1 Jan. 2013. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A313326035/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=d6578357. Accessed 2 May 2025.
Beholding Bee. By Kimberly Newton Fusco. Feb, 2013. 336p. Knopf, $16.99 (9780375868368); lib, ed., $19.99 (9780375968365). Gr. 4-8.
Bee goes to great pains to hide her facial birthmark from the world. And no wonder: people are overly curious or just outright mean. Take the menacing Ellis, who uses the orphaned child in his traveling carnival as a potential freak-show attraction. Bee, meanwhile, helps run the show's hot-dog stand and lives in a hauling truck. Just as the sheer bleakness of Bee's situation threatens to overwhelm the plot, allies emerge among the traveling crew to help her find strength. The story then takes a fanciful turn as two feisty ancestors, whom no one else can see, empower Bee and lead her to a real home. Fusco's unique WWII-era coming-of-age tale delicately balances the cruel challenges flung at Bee with the resilience and fight she gradually develops. Whether it be everyday bullies, a school system that fails her, or abandonment and loss, Bee's supporters stand with her, one challenge at a time. A unique feel-good story about an appealing heroine, her rallying angels, and the search for love and home.--Anne O'Malley
O'Malley, Anne
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2013 American Library Association
http://www.ala.org/aboutala/offices/publishing/booklist/
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O'Malley, Anne. "Beholding Bee." Booklist, vol. 109, no. 11, 1 Feb. 2013, p. 62. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A317308652/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=362658bc. Accessed 2 May 2025.
Beholding Bee
by Kimberly Newton Fusco
Intermediate, Middle School Knopf 330 pp.
2/13 978-0-375-86836-8 $16.99
Library ed. 978-0-375-96836-5 $19.99
e-book ed. 978-0-375-89886-0 $10.99
Bee Hockenberry defines herself by the large diamond-shaped birthmark on her cheek, spending most of her time averting her face and hiding from others. Orphaned at an early age, but lovingly cared for by a young woman, Pauline, Bee knows no other life than their traveling carney environment of 1942. There, as in much of the larger society, Americans drawn to the "freak shows" consider her mark a stigmata that should surely isolate her from society. When Pauline runs off with a slick drifter, Bee sets out on her own (well, with a small dog and a runty pig, but that's another story--and there are many "other stories" here) looking for the perfect house full of love she's always envisioned. She finds that house, inhabited by two frail old women who not only welcome her but also appear to expect her. Quaint, and invisible to everyone but Bee, these two help her find her own strength and recognize her heritage. That they're ancestral grandmothers is slowly revealed, but Bee's matter-of-fact, first-person account and slow understanding allow for a smooth transition from realism to fantasy. This quiet story is a bit too pat but gives readers a modern twist on fairy godmothers: strong, supportive women who don't need to provide a Prince Charming to make dreams come true.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2013 A wholly owned subsidiary of Media Sources, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
http://www.hbook.com/magazine/default.asp
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Carter, Betty. "Beholding Bee." The Horn Book Magazine, vol. 89, no. 3, May-June 2013, p. 82. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A329366176/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=f53ece13. Accessed 2 May 2025.
Watch out for Rosie, who is whip-smart but as mean as the snakes she tries to catch. During the summer before sixth grade, Rosie is as gruff and gritty as her grandfather and the town where they live. Rosie's lawyer mother abandoned her as a baby, and life with Rosie's dad was good until he had a serious stroke a year ago, leaving him so severely disabled that Rosie can't bear to visit him in the rehab hospital. Rosie's gnarly but loving grandpa stepped in, taking over her father's doughnut store to try to eke out a living.
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Rosie has little to be happy about in Chasing Augustus, Kimberly Newton Fusco's spirited novel. Her grades have tanked, and her foremost goal is trying to find her misbehaving dog, Augustus, whom her mother gave away when her father had his stroke. For Rosie, losing Augustus was the crowning blow: "When you lose your dog, there's a hole in your heart as big as the sun. Your head aches all the time and you are so empty inside because you are half the girl you used to be." Rosie will do anything to find him, even break the law, and she's pretty sure her dog is living on a farm with a woman known as Swanson, a town outcast who doesn't speak and is rumored to shoot squirrels.
Helping in Rosie's quest to find her dog--and herself--is a cast of quirky characters, including a withdrawn foster child named Philippe, an annoying chatterbox named Cynthia and a gifted sixth-grade teacher, Mr. Peterson, who challenges Rosie to open her heart and her mind.
There are no easy answers for Rosie, but through her own determination and with the help of a trusted few, she learns to find her way.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2017 BookPage
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Cary, Alice. "Chasing Augustus." BookPage, Oct. 2017, pp. 30+. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A507825833/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=ec65bfb6. Accessed 2 May 2025.
Fusco, Kimberly Newton CHASING AUGUSTUS Knopf (Children's Fiction) $16.99 9, 19 ISBN: 978-0-385-75401-9
Could Rosie's life be much worse?While still a baby, she was abandoned by her emotionally distant mother to the care of Rosie's father, so she could "make something of herself." He and her "big lug" of a dog, Augustus, were all a girl could need. But a year ago, her father suffered a disabling stroke, and her mother returned home just long enough to give her dog away. In the far-from-tender care of her grumpy, bewildered, but loving paternal grandfather--and under the threat of being taken away by her mother--Rosie has spent the past year desperately searching for her dog, thinking of little else. Her gripping, animated narrative--she's given to employing medieval-style curses she and her papa have invented--is spun out across a dismal landscape of struggling but colorful and richly developed (though mostly default white) characters. There's Phillippe, neglected by his mentally unstable mother, constantly hiding within a giant overcoat, and now in Mrs. Salvatore's loud but tender foster care; Cynthia, another neglected child, who can rarely stop talking; a mute, outsider woman, Swanson, who has an undeservedly fearsome reputation; and Mr. Peterson, a teacher who could make all the difference if Rosie would let him. Ultimately, it's Rosie's heart and determined spirit that see her through to a hopeful, well-deserved resolution. God's bones! Magnificent. (Fiction. 10-14)
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2017 Kirkus Media LLC
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"Fusco, Kimberly Newton: CHASING AUGUSTUS." Kirkus Reviews, 1 June 2017. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A493329292/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=e1cf0420. Accessed 2 May 2025.
The Secret of Honeycake
Kimberly Newton Fusco. Knopf, $17.99 (368p) ISBN 978-0-5931-2177-1
Change is difficult for the protagonist of this endearing tale by Fusco (Tending to Grace), set in 1930. Following her mother's death and her older sister Bronte falling ill, 11-year-old Hurricane and her Irish setter Brody-Bear are uprooted from Hurricane's beloved seaside home where she grew up with her mama and late Army lieutenant father to live with her widowed great-aunt Claire. As a quiet girl who loves to write, life in the city is very different. But not everything is negative. She soon meets kindly Mr. Keats, a war veteran who does all manner of work for Aunt Claire and who helps Hurricane befriend the scraggly silver stray cat in the basement. Hurricane also encounters Theo, a young fish seller roaming the streets with his dog. This swiftly paced novel is filled with strong life lessons about embracing change, using writing as a coping mechanism, and learning how to find one's voice. Short chapters and frank text entreat to young readers and challenges them to forge their own paths. The main characters read as white. Ages 8-12. Agent: Elizabeth Harding, Curtis Brown. (Jan.)
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2024 PWxyz, LLC
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"The Secret of Honeycake." Publishers Weekly, vol. 271, no. 39, 14 Oct. 2024, p. 88. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A812940843/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=6687c65b. Accessed 2 May 2025.
Fusco, Kimberly Newton THE SECRET OF HONEYCAKE Knopf (Children's None) $17.99 1, 21 ISBN: 9780593121771
Eleven-year-old Hurricane has endured too many losses in her young life.
Quiet and frequently unable to speak, she's desperately unhappy at school. Her father died in the Great War. Her mother died of tuberculosis. Her 19-year-old sister, Bronte, is her loving guardian, speaking for her when needed. Hurricane loves running with her dog near her cliffside home on the Maine coast and writing her thoughts in her journal. But Bronte has just been diagnosed with tuberculosis and must go to a sanitorium. Great-aunt Claire swoops in and carries Hurricane off to the city, minus her dog. Aunt Claire is rigid, making pronouncements and judgments about those she considers lesser. But there's also chauffeur Mr. Keats, who can do almost anything, including splendid cooking and baking. He is able to soften Aunt Claire's nature and encourages the despondent Hurricane in every way. Her brilliant and kind new friend, Theo, and a needy feral cat bring about changes in all of them; Aunt Claire rethinks her attitudes and remembers joy, while Hurricane discovers her aunt's generosity and innate kindness. Hurricane employs stunningly beautiful, highly descriptive language to narrate her own tale with a depth of feeling and growing awareness of her attributes and true strength of character while including delightful references to Depression-era Hoovers and Frigidaires, as well as the mysterious honeycake. Everything comes together in a lovely, hopeful new beginning, honeycake included. Main characters read white.
Powerful, emotional, and wondrous. (author's note)(Historical fiction. 9-12)
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2024 Kirkus Media LLC
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"Fusco, Kimberly Newton: THE SECRET OF HONEYCAKE." Kirkus Reviews, 15 Nov. 2024. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A815560430/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=fbe39d48. Accessed 2 May 2025.
The Secret of Honeycake by Kimberly Newton Fusco Intermediate Knopf 368 pp. 1/25 9780593121771 $17.99 Library ed. 9780593121788 $20.99 e-book ed. 9780593121795 $10.99
In this novel set during the Great Depression, protagonist Hurricane, like the eye of the storm that raged during her birth, has a quiet center. She is shy, hesitant, and often unable to speak up among classmates and strangers. With her father killed in WWI and her mother dead from tuberculosis, Hurricane lives in the family's remote coastal home with her beloved dog and her older sister, Bronte. But when Bronte also contracts tuberculosis and must go to a sanitarium, life changes. Hurricane's great-aunt Claire swoops in from the city and takes the girl to live with her and her kind, multi-talented chauffeur/cook/housekeeper, Mr. Keats. Having married into money, Aunt Claire adopted many highfalutin ways to appease her now-deceased husband and now wants to force Hurricane into the mold of "proper" young lady--an image far removed from the girl's freer spirit. When Mr. Keats discovers a stray cat, he and Hurricane slowly coax it into trusting them, a clear metaphor for the protagonist's gradual acceptance of her new home, an acceptance not coincidently accompanied by the realization that she can speak for herself. Fusco takes her time developing the Depression-era setting and the backgrounds of each character, giving this heartwarming novel depth and authenticity. BETTY CARTER
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2025 A wholly owned subsidiary of Media Sources, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
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Carter, Betty. "The Secret of Honeycake." The Horn Book Magazine, vol. 101, no. 2, Mar.-Apr. 2025, p. 70. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A831534146/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=2a64f14c. Accessed 2 May 2025.