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ENTRY TYPE:
WORK TITLE: Shadow Fox
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BIRTHDATE:
WEBSITE: https://carliesorosiak.com/
CITY:
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COUNTRY: United States
NATIONALITY: American
LAST VOLUME: SATA 385
RESEARCHER NOTES:
PERSONAL
Married.
EDUCATION:University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, B.A. (English); Oxford University, M.St. (English); City University London, M.A. (creative writing and publishing).
ADDRESS
CAREER
Author and educator. Savannah College of Art and Design, Atlanta, GA, professor of creative writing.
AVOCATIONS:Travel.
AWARDS:Bank Street Best Book selection, Bank Street College of Education, 2018, for Wild Blue Wonder; Best Book selection, Kirkus Reviews, 2019, for I, Cosmo.
WRITINGS
Author’s work has been translated into several languages, including Finnish, French, German, Polish, Spanish, and Swedish.
SIDELIGHTS
Although Carlie Sorosiak began her education in her native North Carolina, she spent several years in England mastering her skills as a fiction writer. Sorosiak’s advanced degrees in English and creative writing eventually led her back to the United States and a career teaching English at the college level. Her talent led to her publication success with well-reviewed young-adult novels such as If Birds Fly Back and Wild Blue Wonder. In a more imaginative vein, Sorosiak shares her affection for dogs in her entertaining middle-grade novel I, Cosmo, among other quirky works, including picture books.
The central character in Sorosiak’s debut novel is Linny, a Florida high-school junior and budding filmmaker who lives in a close-knit family. Linny has become obsessed about missing persons since her older sister Grace left home for points unknown five months ago. As readers meet her in If Birds Fly Back, she is journaling her obsession and working part time as a volunteer at a local retirement community. After starting a friendship with Alvado Herrera, an aging novelist and noted recluse, the impressionable teen meets Herrera’s son Sebastian, and the relationship they now form help her to regain some balance in her world. Sorosiak’s story plays out a dual narration salted with diary excerpts, film screenplays, and other prose, and it “should resonate with fans of Morgan Matson, John Green, and Rainbow Rowell,” according to a Kirkus Reviews critic.
Set in a small town in coastal Maine, Wild Blue Wonder also features a seventeen-year-old heroine, although Quinn Sawyer cannot depend on her family for emotional support. The Sawyer family operates a summer camp, and a terrible accident at the camp has left parents and two siblings isolated and estranged. Fortunately, middle sister Quinn has several close friends whose supportive families now embrace her. Sorosiak reveals the teen’s emotional journey from grief and guilt to understanding and acceptance while slowly unfolding the tragedy that inspired it. Reviewing Wild Blue Wonder for Kirkus Reviews, a critic observed of Quinn that she is “a sympathetic protagonist.” Maggie Reagan wrote in Booklist that the teen’s story is “quietly compelling” and features “touches of magic realism”; it captures the way “life can freeze at the point of tragedy,” the critic added.
Sorosiak’s lifetime love of dogs inspired her to entrust the narration duties in I, Cosmo to a thirteen-year-old golden retriever. Cosmo has been with his family for twelve years, and he and his boy Max have grown up together, sharing hijinks and adventures along the way. Although Max and his family are everything to the dog, his doggy instincts tell him that change may be in the air: the two adult humans now act belligerent toward one another and the household’s stability seems threatened. With Dad now doing his sleeping in the living room and the arguing voices getting louder, Cosmo faces a tough challenge: If he cannot keep the family together, how can he and Max stay together?
Reviewing I, Cosmo in BookPage, Deborah Hopkinson praised the story’s canine narrator as “humorous and lovable” and suggested that Sorosiak’s “sensitive handling” of her family-centered story “will appeal to readers who enjoy realistic fiction and … stories about very good dogs.” “The characters of Cosmo’s human family are skillfully drawn,” noted Emily Maruccilli in School Librarian, the critic also citing “the unfailingly loyal character of Cosmo” in a story that “is positive without [ending in] … the neatly predictable ending you might expect.”
An alien travels to Earth on their 300th birthday in Sorosiak’s 2021 book, Leonard (My Life as a Cat). “When I started this book,” explained Sorosiak in an interview with Charlotte Carus for LoveReading, “I’d just finished writing I, Cosmo, a middle grade novel from the perspective of a golden retriever—so naturally I thought that cats should come next. I was also toying with the idea of writing about a friendly alien. What would happen, I wondered, if I mashed the two ideas together? Thus Leonard, the alien cat, was born. I’ve always believed in the possibility of aliens—and cats are just magical. The two seemed to complement each other.” The plan was to arrive on planet Earth and study humans as an incognito Yellowstone National Park ranger, but due to a little distraction during space travel, the alien ends up a cat in Turtle Beach, South Carolina. “Leonard’s surprise at, and observations of, life in a cat’s body is spot-on and frequently very funny,” noted Elizabeth Friend in School Library Journal. A little girl named Olive finds the alien cat on the beach while staying at her grandmother’s house for the summer. She names him Leonard. Leonard becomes fond of the girl but does not know how he is to rendezvous with his alien friends in just a month’s time. If he does not make it to meet them in time, Leonard could be stuck in his feline body forever. Olive struggles with issues of her own. There is a lot of talk in her family of moving across the country to California for the sake of Olive’s mother’s boyfriend, who has been more than condescending to Olive at times. As time winds down, Leonard must decide what is most important—going home or staying on Earth with his newfound companion.
“The characters experience loneliness and distress, but that makes the happiness and comfort of friendship all the more important,” wrote a contributor to Kirkus Reviews. Carolyn Phelan, reviewing Leonard (My Life as a Cat) in Booklist, stated, “Often amusing and occasionally moving, this imaginative chapter book is never less than fully engaging.”
[open new]Sorosiak also favors animal characters in her picture books. Everywhere with You is about a girl who befriends a solitary dog on the other side of a backyard fence. Sharing snacks, reading books, and telling stories lead to doggy dreams and, after an absence and a thunderstorm, a chance to finally go everywhere together. In Booklist Carolyn Phelan affirmed that “the narrative flows well and tells a moving story” in this “heartening picture book.” A bookselling goat named Leopold must deal with a tricky customer in Books Aren’t for Eating. Proud to provide arrays of customers with all the pleasures of good reading, Leopold is aghast when a gray-furred goat wants to buy a book to eat. With a tour of the shelves poised to turn disastrous, Leopold uses advice from his wife to find the fellow goat just the right book—to read. A Kirkus Reviews writer declared that the “plotting is droll” in this “quaint” title.
Tapping the animal world for widespread inspiration is Sorosiak’s Roar like a Lion: How Animals Can Help You Be Your Best Self. Drawing on the friendship of dogs, the uniqueness of pigeons, the minds of crows, and more, the book shows readers diverse ways that animals exhibit kindness, bravery, resilience, and happiness worth the admiration of humans. A Kirkus Reviews writer called this title a “great read for animal lovers … or any young reader needing a smile … and some encouragement through the trials of life.” Owner of a rescue dog, Sorosiak zeroes in on humans’ best friend in A World of Dogs: A Celebration of Fascinating Facts and Amazing Real-Life Stories for Dog Lovers. The book covers the evolution of dogs, the development of canine culture, the science of their senses, and their relations with humans, with a focus on their modern-day usefulness and accomplishments.
Sorosiak’s next middle-school novel, Always, Clementine, was partly inspired by her family’s rescue rabbit Strawberry, which was saved from a research lab in North Carolina and brought to her elementary school for adoption. Her father built a hutch, and her mother dipped into savings to have the research tag removed from the rabbit’s ear. She explained to Cherokee Crum of YA Books Central that Strawberry “was an incredibly kind bunny who had an obvious—and quite understandable—fear of humans. We tried to make the rest of her life as comfortable and as free as possible. I spent a lot of time thinking about what Strawberry must’ve gone through and how she might tell her own story, if she had the chance.” Sorosiak incorporated chess in the novel’s plot because watching The Queen’s Gambit reminded her about being the captain of her chess team in grade school.
An epistolary novel of sorts, Always, Clementine is told through the letters mentally composed by a super-intelligent mouse to the chimpanzee friend she left behind in leaving their lab. Genetic engineering left Clementine primed for prime numbers from birth, understanding human speech, and leading fellow rodents through maze after maze. Figuring out how to escape her cage, she befriends chimp Rosie and learns sign language. The one day Clementine and fellow mouse Hamlet, an artistic genius, are whisked away by a guilt-wracked lab assistant. Finding the mice in their mailbox, eleven-year-old Gus and his grandfather defy the offered reward for the mice’s return and instead aim to reveal to the world Clementine’s extraordinary intelligence—through chess.
Describing Clementine’s letters as “poignant, loving, and threaded through with the joy of discovery,” a Kirkus Reviews writer appreciated how Sorosiak offers an “optimistic, aspirational view of human nature as she winds the story to a joyous conclusion.” Finding that Clementine’s voice lends Always, Clementine a “strong emotional core,” a Publishers Weekly reviewer affirmed that Sorosiak “explores themes—including animal cruelty, duty, empathy, and intelligence—with a deft, light touch.”
Shadow Fox is narrated by a fox who, living on the shores of Lake Superior in Minnesota, is mourning her sister and survives with the help of white-haired motel owner Nan. When Nan disappears, the fox is wary of letting the woman’s granddaughter, Bee, befriend her. But the two prove to have a magical connection, with Bee naming the fox Shadow and giving voice to Shadow’s thoughts. An encounter with a boatman brings revelations about the magic in Nan’s island hometown, Whistlenorth, and the threat represented by the rapacious Night Islanders, who are scheming to steal Whistlenorth’s magic after laying waste to their own. Shadow is reckoned to be the chosen one, destined to save Whistlenorth and the Minnesota forests.
A Kirkus Reviews writer found Shadow’s voice “compelling,” by turns “prickly, proud, and subtly funny.” The writer proclaimed that Sorosiak “convincingly depicts a singular brand of northern, woodsy, wild magic” in Shadow Fox, which offers an “appealing combination of animal magic and low-key hero fantasy.” A Publishers Weekly reviewer concluded that Sorosiak aptly “illustrates the threats that jeopardize the environment and the power of nature to heal all ills in this touching tale.”[close new]
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Booklist, March 1, 2018, Maggie Reagan, review of Wild Blue Wonder, p. 52; March 1, 2021, Carolyn Phelan, review of Leonard (My Life as a Cat), p. 57; April 15, 2022, Carolyn Phelan, review of Everywhere with You, p. 57.
BookPage, January, 2020, Deborah Hopkinson, review of I, Cosmo, p. 29.
Kirkus Reviews, April 1, 2017, review of If Birds Fly Back; April 1, 2018, review of Wild Blue Wonder; March 1, 2021, review of Leonard (My Life as a Cat); June 15, 2022, review of Books Aren’t for Eating; July 15, 2022, review of Always, Clementine; September 15, 2022, review of Roar like a Lion: How Animals Can Help You Be Your Best Self; September 1, 2024, review of Shadow Fox.
Publishers Weekly, November 23, 2022, review of Always, Clementine, p. 45; July 29, 2024, review of Shadow Fox, p. 65.
School Librarian, winter, 2019, Emily Maruccilli, review of I, Cosmo, p. 233.
School Library Journal, March, 2021, Elizabeth Friend, review of Leonard (My Life as a Cat), p. 99.
ONLINE
BookPage, https://www.bookpage.com/ (April 1, 2021), Linda M. Castellitto, author interview.
Carlie Sorosiak website, https://carliesorosiak.com (April 22, 2025).
LoveReading, https://www.lovereading4kids.co.uk/ (September 16, 2020), Charlotte Carus, author interview.
RCW Literary Agency, https://www.rcwlitagency.com/ (April 22, 2025), author profile.
Write by the Sea, https://www.writebythesea.com/ (April 22, 2025), Gail L. Fontana, “An Interview with Middle Grade Author Carlie Sorosiak.”
YA Books Central, https://yabookscentral.com/ (August 29, 2022), Cherokee Crum, “Author Chat with Carlie Sorosiak (Always, Clementine).”
I write books mostly about the inner lives of animals. My work has received starred reviews from Booklist, Publishers Weekly, BookPage and Kirkus, has been translated into over a dozen languages, and is often lauded by my mother.
I grew up in North Carolina and have an American dingo (Google it!) who is my writing companion, but I don’t let her type on my keyboard. Somewhere in my attic are all three of my degree certificates: one from UNC-Chapel Hill, one from Oxford, and another from City, University of London.
Here are two FAQs!
How do you pronounce your last name?
It sounds like: Soar-ROSE-ee-ak, and it’s Polish!
Are you available to speak at this event/visit my school/do an interview?
Possibly! Feel free to get in touch via my contact form.
Carlie Sorosiak
Carlie Sorosiak is the author of If Birds Fly Back and Wild Blue Yonder. She grew up in North Carolina and holds two master’s degrees: one in English from Oxford University and another in creative writing and publishing from City University London. Her life goals include traveling to all seven continents and fostering many polydactyl cats. She currently splits her time between the United States and the United Kingdom, hoping to gain an accent like Madonna’s.
Series
My Life as a Cat
1. My Life as a Cat (2020)
2. Leonard (2021)
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Letters from a Runaway Mouse
Always, Clementine (2022)
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Novels
If Birds Fly Back (2017)
Wild Blue Wonder (2018)
I, Cosmo (2019)
Shadow Fox (2024)
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Picture Books hide
Roar Like a Lion (2021)
Everywhere with You (2022)
Books Aren't for Eating (2022)
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Non fiction hide
World of Dogs (2023)
An Interview with Middle Grade Author Carlie Sorosiak
by Gail L. Fontana
We are on the cusp of Thanksgiving and the winter holidays.
I wish you all happiness, love, and cups running over with gratitude and blessings.
Today I have an interview with middle-grade author Carlie Sorosiak.
Carlie Sorosiak
I recently read her latest novel, Always, Clementine.
She tells the story of a lab mouse with such heart and humor, it was easy to fall in love.
I have to admit that the end had me in tears…unusual for me.
So, first of all, Carlie, a big thank you for this interview.
I love to get inside the head of an author and learn a bit more about their process and their connection to their stories.
Gail: Set the scene for me. Where are you right now?
Carlie Sorosiak: I’m at my desk (handmade by a woodworker from my grandmother’s hometown), and my dog is snoozing under my feet.
G: Sounds perfectly cozy! I loved the premise of Always, Clementine.
The idea of a lab mouse out in the big world for the first time is heartbreaking.
But the way Clementine makes the world a better place through her escape is utterly charming.
In your acknowledgements, you mentioned your rescue rabbit, Strawberry.
It sounds like a sad story with a happy ending, thanks to you.
Did you save her from a lab like Clementine’s?
CS: Thank you for bringing up Strawberry. She was rescued from a research lab in North Carolina. My teacher brought Strawberry into my elementary school classroom and asked if anyone could take her home. My mom said “us!”
Strawberry lived in the comfort of our kitchen and in a hutch that my dad built in the backyard. My family didn’t have a lot of money at the time, and I remember that my mom dug into some savings to have our vet cut the research tag from Strawberry’s ear.
G: Thank goodness for good people like you and your family and like Felix (the scientist who frees Clementine) in your story. Is Felix based on a real person? And what about Gus (the boy who finds Clementine and gives her a home)? What a sweetheart.
CS: Felix isn’t necessarily based on anyone in particular, but now that I think about it, he has the spirit of my teacher, who rescued Strawberry. And I love Gus! Gus has my anxieties. He’s a piece of who I was as a kid.
G: As we talked about earlier, while reading Always, Clementine, I kept hoping it wouldn’t turn out like Flowers for Algernon. You said you’d never read that book, but people have told you Always, Clementine, reminded them of Flowers. Do you think you might give it a try now?
CS: I definitely will, sometime in the future! That and The Rats of NIMH. I’m told that I would appreciate both. Unfortunately, my TBR pile is about a mile high. I’m into poetry at the moment.
G: I get it. Those TBR piles never seem to get shorter. Chess figures prominently in Always, Clementine. It is an apt metaphor for fighting for one’s life with a support team. Did you have the idea of using chess from the beginning or did it occur to you as you were writing early drafts? Did you have to take a crash course? You must be as brilliant as Clementine!
CS: I added chess after the first draft, as I was watching The Queen’s Gambit on Netflix. That show reinvigorated my dormant love of chess. I was the chess-team captain in elementary school! I thought that a brilliant mouse could use a brilliant game.
G: Well, it was the perfect addition. I appreciated that Always, Clementine was not at all preachy. It didn’t need to be! The story just made my heart ooze with compassion. Thank you for your notes at the end of the book about what kids can do. Has this subject been important to you all your life? (I love that your dad stops his car for turtles!)
CS: Yes, it has. I come from a family of animal rescuers. I can’t imagine living life another way.
G: So has Always, Clementine been bubbling in your head for many years?
CS: I’ve had Clementine (in one form or another) in my head for about five years. Eventually, I knew I had to put “the mouse book” to paper, but it took me a long time to figure out what shape it would take.
G: I’m so glad you did! Can you share news about a future project?
CS: It may or may not involve a fox.
G: I will look forward to it, whenever it appears. What are some themes that are near and dear to your heart that you try to weave throughout your stories?
CS: Animals have interiorities that are more complex than we think. People can be good.
G: For those of us who are writers, what’s your strategy: Plotter or Pantser?
CS: Somewhere in between! I use Save the Cat for story structure. Which is quite funny, considering that my second middle-grade book was about . . . saving a cat.
G: That would be Leonard, My Life as a Cat. What writer or other creative person inspires you?
CS: I am continuously inspired by Kate DiCamillo.
G: Yes, she’s worthy! Any advice for parents about how best to nurture their child’s creative side…as well as their hero side?
CS: Encourage them to read as widely as possible!
G: That’s a beautiful lesson for everyone. Thank you so much, Carlie, for your time and for continuing to write stories that show readers what it means to be human via the world of animals.
To learn more about Carlie Sorosiak visit www.carliesorosiak.com.
In addition to middle grade, Carlie writes young adult and picture books.
To read my review of Always, Clementine at gaillfontana.com.
Carlie Sorosiak is from North Carolina. She holds an MSt. in English from Oxford University and an MA in Creative Writing and Publishing from City University London. She works as a creative writing professor at the Savannah College of Art and Design in Atlanta.
Carlie’s debut, If Birds Fly Back, was published by Macmillan in 2017 and her second book, Wild Blue Wonder was published in 2018. I, Cosmo was published by Nosy Crow in August 2019 and her new novel, My Life as a Cat, will be published by Nosy Crow in September 2020.
Twitter: @carliesorosiak
Instagram: @carliesorosiak
Website: carliesorosiak.com
Books in order of publication:
If Birds Fly Back (2017)
Wild Blue Wonder (2018)
I, Cosmo (2019)
My Life as a Cat (2020)
Roar Like a Lion (2021)
Everywhere with You (2022)
Always, Clementine (2022)
Books Aren't For Eating (2022)
A World of Dogs (2023)
The Takedown (written under the pen name Carlie Walker, published in 2023)
Shadow Fox (2024)
Agent: Claire Wilson
Author Chat with Carlie Sorosiak (Always Clementine) Plus Giveaway! US/CAN Only!
August 29, 20225 Comments
Written by Cherokee Crum, Blog Manager and Staff Reviewer
Posted in Authors, Giveaways, Interviews, News & Updates
Today we are chatting with Carlie Sorosiak, author of Always Clementine.
Read on for more about him, the book, and a giveaway!
Meet Carlie Sorosiak
Carlie Sorosiak is the author of the novels I, Cosmo and Leonard (My Life as a Cat), as well as the picture books Everywhere with You, illustrated by Devon Holzwarth, and Books Aren’t for Eating, illustrated by Manu Montoya. She lives in Georgia with her husband and their American dingo.
Website
About the Book: Always, Clementine
Clementine is different from other mice: she can calculate the speed of light and she dreams in Latin. The scientists say she’s a genius and put her through test after test. Clementine is proud of being a good lab mouse, but she’s lonely. Her only snatches of friendship occur during her late-night visits with a chimpanzee named Rosie. When a compassionate lab technician frees Clementine, the mouse discovers an outside world full of wonders: Brussels sprouts, games of speed chess, television fame, and a chance for a real home. But for Clementine, it’s not enough to be free when she knows that Rosie and the other mice are not. This tender, lively adventure story, narrated in letters from a mouse to a chimpanzee, shows us that goodness is something we have to define for ourselves—and that courage and wisdom aren’t proportionate to size.
~Author Chat~
YABC: What gave you the inspiration to write this book?
When I was a little kid, my family and I adopted a rabbit who’d been rescued from a research laboratory. We named her Strawberry. She was an incredibly kind bunny who had an obvious—and quite understandable—fear of humans. We tried to make the rest of her life as comfortable and as free as possible. I spent a lot of time thinking about what Strawberry must’ve gone through and how she might tell her own story, if she had the chance. That was the initial seed for Always, Clementine.
YABC: Which came first, the title or the novel?
The novel came first. I wanted to tell Clementine’s story in letters, and when I wrote the first one—signing it “Always, Clementine”—I knew that had to be the title.
YABC: What scene in the book are you most proud of, and why?
I’m super proud of the grocery store scene in Always, Clementine. Firstly, I wrote it at four in the morning, so that in itself was a feat! That particular scene also felt like the perfect balance of sweetness and urgency, which was my goal for the entire book.
YABC: What do you like most about the cover of the book?
Honestly, the answer is “everything.” Vivienne To is a genius. I love Clementine’s eager, earnest, curious, hopeful expression. Vivienne managed to capture so many emotions at once, and Clementine is just incredibly adorable. Look at her little face! Sunflowers are also a huge symbol in the book, and it’s wonderful how they’re incorporated.
YABC: What’s a book you’ve recently read and loved?
The Night Watchman by Louise Erdrich. Everything Erdrich writes is flawless.
YABC: What’s up next for you?
My first non-fiction book for kids, Roar like a Lion, publishes in the US in November. It’s a self-help book with a wild twist: all the advice comes straight from the animal kingdom! You’ll learn how to make friends like the wolf, show courage like the tree frog, and be confident like the platypus. I also have a middle-grade fantasy out in 2023, which may or may not be from the perspective of a mildly grumpy fox!
YABC: Which character gave you the most trouble when writing your latest book?
Clementine, most definitely! Since the novel is in first person—and that “person” is a mouse—the voice was initially a real challenge. I wanted to create the impression that Clementine’s brain was moving very, very fast, like a mouse’s heartbeat; at the same time, I didn’t want the narration to feel too skittish or tangential. I think I got the balance right in the end.
YABC: What is the main message or lesson you would like your reader to remember from this book?
At the end of Always, Clementine, I’ve included an author’s note about animal testing. I think the final paragraph sums up my feelings best: “There is hope for the future . . . We do not have to continue the old methods forever. Millions of animals—just like Clementine—are waiting for a new day.”
YABC: Is there an organization or cause that is close to your heart?
I am a huge advocate for the Atlanta Humane Society. I was lucky enough to rescue my dog, Dany, from AHS over four years ago. They do great work for animals in Georgia, where I live. Currently, AHS is even taking care of 27 beagles who were relinquished from a facility that breeds animals for animal testing. Some or all of those beagles will be available for adoption in the future. Just saying, if anyone is interested in adding a dog their family!
Book’s Title: Always, Clementine
Author: Carlie Sorosiak
Release Date: 9/20/22
Publisher: Walker Books US
isbn-10: 1536228842
isbn-13: 9781536228847
Genre: Middle grade fiction
Age Range: 8 – 12
Everywhere with You. By Carlie Sorosiak. Illus. by Devon Holzwarth. May 2022. 40p. Candlewick, $18.99 (9781536214970). PreS-Gr. 2.
On one side of a backyard fence, a lonely dog howls at the moon. On the other side, a girl brings peanut butter crackers in hopes of befriending him. She returns every evening with books to read, stories to tell, and snacks to share with her new companion. When she and her parents go on vacation, the dog feels lonelier than ever. After they return, she assures him that seeing him is the highlight of her day. Discovering a gap in the fence following a thunderstorm, the dog runs to the girl's house and howls. Her mother calls his owners, who have seen the child reading to him and offer to let her keep him, creating a happy ending. The narrative flows well and tells a moving story. One magical aspect of the book is that although the dog doesn't understand the girl's language, after she reads or tells him imaginative tales, he has vibrant dreams in which the two friends share adventures. With warm colors, curving lines, and rhythmic repetition of forms, the mixed-media illustrations beautifully portray the setting as well as the main characters and their growing friendship, while the richly detailed dream scenes have a more otherworldly quality. A heartening picture book.--Carolyn Phelan
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2022 American Library Association
http://www.ala.org/aboutala/offices/publishing/booklist/
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Phelan, Carolyn. "Everywhere with You." Booklist, vol. 118, no. 16, 15 Apr. 2022, p. 57. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A702054527/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=f1097f95. Accessed 16 Mar. 2025.
Sorosiak, Carlie BOOKS AREN'T FOR EATING Walker US/Candlewick (Children's None) $17.99 9, 20 ISBN: 978-1-5362-1496-3
Books can be life-changing, contemplative, and...delicious?
Leopold, a bespectacled, white-furred goat, loves warm sweaters and books. Books transport him out of his own life through his imagination and help him discover new worlds and adventures. Leopold loves books so much that he owns a bookstore and spends his days suggesting books to a racially diverse group of customers--it gives "him such a pleasant feeling, like introducing someone to a friend." Leopold is tested, however, when a gray-furred goat requests a book for ingesting. Acknowledging his faux pas, the unnamed goat allows Leopold to guide his book-selection adventure, with disastrous (but fibrous?) results. Thankfully, Leopold's wife, a brown-furred goat, reminds her husband that he was once like this tricky customer, motivating Leopold to suggest the title that helped him discover that books were for more than just a light snack. The plotting is droll, and the illustrations--done in gouache and rendered digitally--are amusing in a vaguely Wes Anderson style, but the story feels heavily preached toward the choir. The denouement happens suddenly, which may leave readers wishing to learn more about the gray-furred goat's literary journey (and name) and less about Leopold's life. It's a fine story but one that may not appeal to the gray-furred goats of the world. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Quaint but doesn't leave you wanting seconds. (Picture book. 5-8)
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2022 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
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"Sorosiak, Carlie: BOOKS AREN'T FOR EATING." Kirkus Reviews, 15 June 2022. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A706932862/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=170729f1. Accessed 16 Mar. 2025.
Sorosiak, Carlie ROAR LIKE A LION David Fickling/Scholastic (Children's None) $14.99 11, 1 ISBN: 978-1-338-80218-4
Important emotional lessons from the animal world.
Have you ever marveled at two dogs first meeting and seeming to make friends so easily? Or perhaps you feel like a pigeon amid a flock of other birds--just a part of the crowd? Well, the dogs recognize the importance of healthy bonds, and each pigeon is unique! Animals interact and adapt in such marvelous ways; they can be inspirations to humans. With proclamations and affirmations directed to readers ("dear young humans"), the book features chapters on individuality, inner confidence, a supportive pack, kindness, bravery, resilience, and happiness. Sorosiak compares facts about certain species and true stories of particular animals to common human challenges involving school, art, and friendship. She includes various perspectives and emphasizes that everyone is different--and that's OK. For instance, a crow can't run fast like an ostrich or hover like a hummingbird, but it can solve complex puzzles and remember human faces for years, and that's really impressive! Playful typography intermixes with Walker's charming illustrations to sustain visual appeal. Taken together, this is a great read for animal lovers (full of interesting information) or any young reader needing a smile (images of pandas somersaulting in the snow are sure to elicit grins) and some encouragement through the trials of life. Humans depicted with their animal friends are racially diverse.
Like life, grab this book with both paws! (author's note, index of animals) (Nonfiction. 8-13)
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2022 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
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"Sorosiak, Carlie: ROAR LIKE A LION." Kirkus Reviews, 15 Sept. 2022. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A717107325/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=fe6063b5. Accessed 16 Mar. 2025.
Sorosiak, Carlie ALWAYS, CLEMENTINE Walker US/Candlewick (Children's None) $17.99 9, 20 ISBN: 978-1-5362-2884-7
Letters from a super-intelligent mouse to the beloved chimpanzee she leaves behind when she escapes a research lab.
Poignant, loving, and threaded through with the joy of discovery, the letters that Clementine mentally composes to her gentle simian friend tell a tale that takes suspenseful turns while affirming tolerance and self-expression. Thanks to tweaked DNA, she's thinking about prime numbers the day she is born, helps other mice navigate mazes, and figures out how to escape her cage at night and sign with the lab's sad, affectionate chimp, Rosie. When a guilt-ridden research assistant spirits her and another mouse subject out of the lab, leaving them in a nearby mailbox, she begins a series of reports to Rosie about the wonders of the outside world. Eleven-year-old Gus and his grandfather welcome the fugitives rather than turn them in for the large reward offered by the lab when the mousenapping is discovered. They create a storm of public protest against animal experimentation by televising a chess match in which Clementine beats five experienced human players simultaneously. Along with offering an optimistic, aspirational view of human nature as she winds the story to a joyous conclusion, Sorosiak tucks in a subplot around nonverbal Hamlet, the other mouse escapee, who constructs a model of Notre Dame out of wood chips, as food for further thought about different intelligences. The human cast seems to be mostly White.
Serious themes lightened by comedic touches; the strong emotional attachments will linger with readers. (Fiction. 8-12)
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"Sorosiak, Carlie: ALWAYS, CLEMENTINE." Kirkus Reviews, 15 July 2022. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A709933223/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=753ae1d6. Accessed 16 Mar. 2025.
Always, Clementine
Carlie Sorosiak. Walker US, $17.99 (304p) ISBN 978-1-5362-2884-7
Genius rodent Clementine finds her purpose with the help of friends and the game of chess in Sorosiak's (I, Cosmo) heartfelt, adventure-filled tale. Due to altered DNA, Clementine shines in the lab, where researchers posit that she "could be the smartest mouse in history." She dreams in Latin, solves mathematical equations, and understands humans' speech. She also makes her first friend, fellow caged lab denizen Rosie, a gentle, curious chimpanzee. Clementine's life is upended when a compassionate junior researcher stealthily liberates her and another mouse, Hamlet, to the nearby mailbox of Pop, the kindly host of local TV program Pop's Hobbies. That's where she's discovered by 11-year-old Gus, Pop's lively and thoughtful grandson, who earnestly promises his protection. Via a series of sensorially written, stirring, and by turns funny and suspenseful imaginary letters to Rosie, Clementine relates her experiences out in the wide world, where Gus, Pop, and a televised game of chess stand to save her from a grim fate back at the lab, which has offered a reward for her return. Maintaining a strong emotional core through Clementine's voice, Sorosiak explores themes--including animal cruelty, duty, empathy, and intelligence--with a deft, light touch. Human characters largely read as white. Ages 8-12.
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"Always, Clementine." Publishers Weekly, vol. 269, no. 49, 23 Nov. 2022, p. 45. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A728493807/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=b3419d59. Accessed 16 Mar. 2025.
A World of Dogs
Carlie Sorosiak, author
Luisa Uribe, illustrator
Nosy Crow
https://nosycrow.com
9798887770963, $19.99, HC, 96pp
https://www.amazon.com/World-Dogs-Celebration-Fascinating-Real-Life/dp/B0CR8WD313
Synopsis: Throughout human history dogs have been by our side, their paw prints following our footprints wherever we roamed. With the publication of "A World of Dogs: A Celebration of Fascinating Facts and Amazing Real-Life Stories for Dog Lovers" from Nosy Crow, children will delight in discovering everything they could ever want to know about our best canine friends and companions.
From tracing the evolutionary history of dogs to explaining the science of doggy senses, "A World of Dogs" reveals how puppies communicate, whether they understand us, and if they really love us back!
Within the pages of "A World of Dogs" young readers will encounter the hounds of ancient history, worshipped as gods, and painted in works of art from the stone age to the modern day, and explore the stories of real-life doggy heroes, dogs with jobs, and how dogs help humans every day.
Critique: This large format (10.41 x 0.38 x 11.94 inches, 1.74 pounds) hardcover edition of "A World of Dogs: A Celebration of Fascinating Facts and Amazing Real-Life Stories for Dog Lovers" by author/storyteller Carlie Sorosiak and artist/illustrator Luisa Uribe is a fun and informative read from start to finish--making it an ideal and unreservedly recommended addition to family, elementary school, middle school, and community library Canine Pets collections for children ages 8-12.
Editorial Note #1: Carlie Sorosiak (https://carliesorosiak.com) is a children's author whose fiction titles include Waterstone's Children's Book of the Month, I, Cosmo, as well as My Life as a Cat, and Always, Clementine. She has a master's in English from Oxford University and another in publishing from City, University of London.
Editorial Note #2: Luisa Uribe is an illustrator and designer of children's media. She graduated as a Graphic Designer from the National University of Colombia and has an MA in Art and Design from Loughborough University. In 2018 she was awarded the SOI Dilys Evans Founder's Award for The Vast Wonder of the World. Other recent publications include Your Name is a Song, My Town/Mi Pueblo and My Brother Is Away. She lives in Colombia with her partner and two cats. (https://thebrightagency.com/us/childrens-illustration/artists/luisa-uribe)
Please Note: Illustration(s) are not available due to copyright restrictions.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2024 Midwest Book Review
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"A World of Dogs." Children's Bookwatch, July 2024. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A804603861/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=6018b6e6. Accessed 16 Mar. 2025.
Shadow Fox
Carlie Sorosiak. Walker US, $17.99 (224p) ISBN 978-1-5362-2896-0
Following the deaths of her mother and sister, an initially nameless fox relies on the kindness of Nan, the owner of a motel in Grand Marais, Minn., to survive--until Nan disappears. When Nan's granddaughter Bee arrives to search for her, the fox, wary of the stranger, nevertheless feels a bond with Bee, who names her Shadow. An enigmatic boatsman speculates that their bond is due to the magic that originates from Whistlenorth, Nan's enchanted hometown on Lake Superior. He also reveals that Whistle-north is in danger: after Night Islanders deplete their own home of its magic, they plan to steal Whistlenorth's. As the chosen one, Shadow must save Whistlenorth and its citizens and restore the nature that is the source of its magic before it's too late. Over the course of her adventure, Shadow contends with grief over her family's deaths and fear over Nan's disappearance, all while slowly learning to trust again. Sorosiak (Always, Clementine) illustrates the threats that jeopardize the environment and the power of nature to heal all ills in this touching tale narrated by sharp and witty Shadow. Human characters read as white. Ages 8-12. Agent: Claire Wilson, Rogers, Coleridge & White. (Oct.)
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"Shadow Fox." Publishers Weekly, vol. 271, no. 29, 29 July 2024, p. 65. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A803782879/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=4a214cdb. Accessed 16 Mar. 2025.
Sorosiak, Carlie SHADOW FOX Walker US/Candlewick (Children's None) $17.99 10, 29 ISBN: 9781536228960
A hungry fox and a girl with a lively personality wield magic together.
Events unfold from the viewpoint of the narrator, a fox named Shadow who lives near the shore of Lake Superior. Food is scarce, she's thin and has patchy fur, and the loss of her sister some months before is constantly on her mind. Shadow steals shoes from rooms at a nearby motel--she has 257 piled in her den--and distrusts all humans except for one. But Nan, the white-haired woman from the motel who used to feed her, is inexplicably gone; a red-haired girl is there instead. Bee, Nan's granddaughter, is a bit wild and out of step with others herself. To Shadow's initial annoyance, she and Bee forge a bond that turns out to be deep and magical; indeed, Bee can understand and give human voice to Shadow's thoughts. Meanwhile, the island of Whistlenorth, accessed through a portal on Lake Superior, is the site of imminent (and foretold) devastation--and Bee and Shadow must attempt to thwart the danger. The Night Islanders' greedy and indiscriminate reaping of the environment to distill "ultra-concentrated magic" has laid waste to much of what grows in the magical islands and threatens Minnesota's forests. As Shadow navigates the dangerous territories of trust and power, the fox has a compelling voice that's prickly, proud, and subtly funny. The book convincingly depicts a singular brand of northern, woodsy, wild magic.
An appealing combination of animal magic and low-key hero fantasy.(Fantasy. 8-11)
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2024 Kirkus Media LLC
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"Sorosiak, Carlie: SHADOW FOX." Kirkus Reviews, 1 Sept. 2024. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A806452646/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=97f6a089. Accessed 16 Mar. 2025.