SATA
ENTRY TYPE: new
WORK TITLE: Perry Homer Ruins Everything
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE:
WEBSITE: https://www.bethvrabel.com/
CITY: Canton
STATE:
COUNTRY: United States
NATIONALITY:
LAST VOLUME:
RESEARCHER NOTES:
PERSONAL
Married.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Writer.
AWARDS:International Literacy Award, 2016, for A Blind Guide to Stinkville;Housatonic Award for Middle Grade, 2021, for The Newspaper Club; Connecticut Book Award for Middle Grade Fiction, 2022, for To Tell You the Truth.
WRITINGS
SIDELIGHTS
Beth Vrabel is a writer based in Canton, CT. She specializes in novels for middle-grade readers.
Released in 2014, Vrabel’s first novel was Pack of Dorks, which follows a fourth-grader named Lucy, as she is shunned by the popular crowd and must find a new friend group. When she is paired with a kid named Sam on a project about wolves, she learns about the pack mentality and gains a new friend. “Lucy’s perfectly feisty narration, the emotionally resonant situations and the importance of the topic all elevate this effort well above the pack,” asserted a contributor to Kirkus Reviews. Cynthia Winfield, reviewer in Voice of Youth Advocates, remarked: “Humorous and honest, this should appeal to both female and male readers.” Lucy and her friends return in Camp Dork and Super Dorks.
Vrabel presents a protagonist named Alice with blindness caused by albinism in A Blind Guide to Stinkville. In an interview with Cat Acree, contributor to the BookPage website, Vrabel explained what inspired her to write the volume, stating: “My daughter has a form of albinism, much more mild that Alice’s, the character’s. She wanted to read a book with a character who is just a regular girl doing regular things and who happens to have this shared challenge. But when we looked for that book, and then spread that search out to look for a comic book or a movie . . . everything we found was purely about being blind or purely about having albinism.” She continued: “These characters tended to be villains or witches, or [have] all sorts of magical components instead of just being a regular person who happened to be born with an additional challenge. And so it meant a lot to me to portray Alice as a typical kid.” In the book, Alice navigates a move to a new town and hopes to win a writing contest. Nancy P. Reeder, reviewer in School Library Journal, commented: “Readers who enjoy realistic fiction and humor will find much to appreciate.” Booklist critic, Michael Cart, described the volume as “a story that is both informative and gripping.”
Another physical condition affects a main character in Vrabel’s 2017 standalone novel, Caleb and Kit. Caleb deals with his worsening cystic fibrosis, his mom’s new relationship, and being compared to his seemingly-perfect brother. His life improves when he meets Kit, a nature-loving girl, who takes him on adventures in the woods, but who has her own problems. A Kirkus Reviews writer called the book “a realistic story with strong, recognizable characters that doesn’t reduce cystic fibrosis to a tragedy.” A reviewer in Children’s Bookwatch described it as “an original and unfailingly entertaining novel.” “Hand to readers looking for a novel about both the magic and the pain of friendship,” suggested Erin Reilly-Sanders in School Library Journal.
In The Reckless Club, inspired by the classic film, The Breakfast Club, five students connect when they are assigned to volunteer at a home for the elderly as punishment for their actions at school. At the nursing home, they bond with residents, attempt to solve a crime, and interact with one another. Writing in School Library Journal, Marie Orlando described the book as “a five-problem novel that entertains and provides some life lessons.” A critic in Children’s Bookwatch called it “a unique and thoroughly entertaining read by an author with a genuine flair for narrative storytelling.”
An eighth-grader reckons with a lifetime of embarrassments in The Humiliations of Pipi McGee. Pipi looks back on the times she has embarrassed herself in the past, and she deals with current humiliations, many induced by mean girl Kara. Finally, Pipi stands up to Kara and deepens her bond with her two best friends. “Painful though they are, Pipi’s trials neatly convey an authentic flavor of the commonplace agonies of middle school,” suggested a contributor to Kirkus Reviews. Jill Baetiong, writer in School Library Journal, noted that the book was an example of “realistic, humorous fiction.”
The Newspaper Club stars eleven-year-old Nellie, an aspiring journalist in small-town Bear Creek. She enlists other kids to cover a developing story in their town. In an interview with Cynthia Copeland on the Publishers Weekly website, Vrabel stated: “As readers follow The Newspaper Club reporters’ debate about what comprises a news story and how it should be shared, my hope is that they’ll develop expectations of fairness, accuracy, and objectivity for the media they consume.” A reviewer in Publishers Weekly described the book as “heartwarming.” School Library Journal writer, Emily Beasley, called it “a captivating and touching story that addresses issues in news media and life effortlessly, while engaging readers with a fast-paced mystery.” “Nellie’s voice is frank and often funny—and always full of information about newspapers,” noted a contributor to Kirkus Reviews.
In To Tell You the Truth, a girl named Trixy reckons with the loss of her grandmother by retelling some of her most outrageous stories. In an interview with a contributor to the CT Center for the Book website, Vrabel explained: “When I was writing To Tell You the Truth, I spent a lot of time researching my family history. Many of the stories Gran tells Trixy are rooted in my family lore, though they branch in new directions and outcomes. I drafted much of this book during the early phases of Covid, when what scared me more than anything was loss. Collectively and personally, we were all suddenly dealing with so much grief. That informed Trixy’s journey.” “This is an outstanding book, and Trixy’s struggles will resonate with readers,” asserted Kate Rao in School Library Journal. A reviewer in Publishers Weekly suggested: “This cathartic narrative nimbly explores love, grief, revival, and what makes a tale true.” A Kirkus Reviews critic called the book “poignant and uplifting.”
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Booklist, September 1, 2015, Michael Cart, review of A Blind Guide to Stinkville, p. 112.
Children’s Bookwatch, December, 2017, review of Caleb and Kit;October, 2018, review of The Reckless Club.
Kirkus Reviews, August 1, 2014, review of Pack of Dorks;August 1, 2015, review of A Blind Guide to Stinkville; March 15, 2016, review of Camp Dork; June 15, 2017, review of Caleb and Kit; January 15, 2018, review of Bringing Me Back; April 15, 2018, review of Super Dorks; August 1, 2018, review of The Reckless Club; June 1, 2019, review of The Humiliations of Pipe McGee; December 15, 2019, review of The Newspaper Club; May 1, 2021, review of To Tell You the Truth; May 1, 2022, review of Lies I Tell Myself; May 1, 2023, review of When Giants Burn; April 15, 2024, review of Perry Homer Ruins Everything.
Publishers Weekly, January 20, 2020, review of The Newspaper Club, p. 70; November 24, 2021, review of To Tell You the Truth, p. 92.
School Library Journal, October, 2014, Amelia Jenkins, review of Pack of Dorks, p. 109; August, 2015, Nancy P. Reeder, review of A Blind Guide to Stinkville, p. 94; October, 2016, Katya Schapiro, review of A Blind Guide to Normal, p. 101; June 1, 2017, Erin Reilly-Sanders, review of Caleb and Kit, p. 97; September, 2018, Marie Orlando, review of The Reckless Club, p. 111; September, 2019, Jill Baetiong, review of The Humiliations of Pipe McGee, p. 119; March, 2020, Emily Beasley, review of The Newspaper Club, p. 109; June, 2021, Kate Rao, review of To Tell You the Truth, p. 61
Voice of Youth Advocates, December, 2014, Cynthia Winfield, review of Pack of Dorks, p. 70.
ONLINE
Beth Vrabel website, https://www.bethvrabel.com/ (October 25, 2024).
BookPage Online, https://www.bookpage.com/ (September 13, 2017), Cat Acree, author interview.
Colleen Young website, https://colleenyoungwriter.squarespace.com/ (October 25, 2024), Colleen Young, author interview.
CT Center for the Book website, https://ctcenterforthebook.org/ (October 14, 2022), author interview.
Huffington Post, https://www.huffpost.com/ (October 13, 2015), Mary Pauline Lowry, author interview.
Publishers Weekly Online, https://www.publishersweekly.com/ (March 3, 2020), Cynthia Copeland, author interview.
Young Adult Books Central, https://www.yabookscentral.com/ (May 26, 2016), Beth Edwards, author interview.
Beth Vrabel
Beth Vrabel is the award-winning author of A Blind Guide to Stinkville, A Blind Guide to Normal, and the Pack of Dorks series. She can't clap to the beat or be trusted around Nutella, but indulges in both often, much to the dismay of her family. She lives in Canton, Connecticut.
Genres: Children's Fiction
New and upcoming books
June 2024
thumb
Perry Homer Ruins Everything
Series
Pack of Dorks
1. Pack of Dorks (2014)
2. Camp Dork (2016)
3. Super Dorks (2018)
thumbthumbthumb
Blind Guide
1. A Blind Guide to Normal (2016)
2. A Blind Guide to Stinkville (2015)
thumbthumb
Newspaper Club
1. The Newspaper Club (2020)
2. The Cubs Get the Scoop (2020)
thumbthumb
Novels
Caleb and Kit (2017)
Bringing Me Back (2018)
The Reckless Club (2018)
The Humiliations of Pipi McGee (2019)
To Tell You the Truth (2021)
Lies I Tell Myself (2022)
When Giants Burn (2023)
Perry Homer Ruins Everything (2024)
Winner of the 2022 Connecticut Book Award for Middle Grade Fiction (“To Tell You the Truth”)
Winner of 2021 Housatonic Award for Middle Grade (“The Newspaper Club”)
Selected for Junior Library Guild (“A Blind Guide to Normal” and “Lies I Tell Myself”)
2021-22 SSYRA Finalist (“The Newspaper Club”)
2016 International Literacy Award winner (“A Blind Guide to Stinkville”)
Vrabel’s books have been finalists for the Mark Twain Award, Great Stone Face Book Award, the South Carolina Children’s Book Award, the Louisiana Young Reader’s Choice Award, the Bluestem, and Rhode Island Middle School Book Award, among others.
September 14, 2015
Frequently Asked Questions
Where do you get your ideas?
Ideas come from anywhere and everywhere. That’s why I’m sure to keep a notebook nearby at all times—just in case.
When did you know you wanted to be a writer?
I wrote my first story just for me—not because it was an assignment for school—when I was in fourth grade. I remember my mom reading it and saying, “Some day, Beth, you're going to write a story and it's going to be published.” I could picture it, that little story I wrote, on shelves.
You know, looking back on that now, I can’t help but wonder what would’ve happened if Mom had just said, “That’s nice, Beth” and moved on to whatever else she had been doing before I waved those pages in her face. Maybe I would’ve fallen in love with writing on my own. Maybe I wouldn’t have.
The thing that strikes me is the power of that moment of kindness on her part. It didn’t cost her anything—maybe a few minutes—to read those pages, smile and encourage me. But it changed the course of my life. I try to be mindful of that now, as a mom but also as a person who spends a lot of time with children. One moment of kindness and attention can be so powerful.
What gave you the idea to write this book?
I think we all go through a period where we feel a little picked on and misunderstood. For me, that was fourth grade. My dad had been seriously injured at work, with a long hospital stay and much longer recovery period. He and Mom were understandably stressed and distracted. While I didn’t completely understand what they were dealing with, I knew not to bring up things like that other kids were laughing at my penny loafers. All my buddies from fourth-grade seemed to have paired up with new friends during the summer, and I felt pretty alone. I remember searching the cliques in my classroom, trying to find a place where I fit.
It’s a lonely feeling, but powerful material for a future writer!
Are you a lot like Lucy (Pack of Dorks)?
Oh, I wish! While Lucy might not be the nicest, most considerate person, she is authentic. I wish I had known and respected myself as much as her by the time I finished fourth grade. I wallowed. Lucy takes action!
How long did it take to write PACK OF DORKS?
I’ve got a short and a long answer to this question. Here’s the short version: About a year. I wrote most of PACK OF DORKS at a local coffee shop while my son was in preschool.
Now, for the long version, I’d say it took me about five years and four books. Even though PACK OF DORKS is my first published book, it’s not the first I’ve written. My first novel, I’ll just say it, was terrible. So, so bad that kittens died. For real! I wanted to write a Serious Work of Fiction. You know, those books that make you think and pang and long. That was the type of book I was certain I should be writing. Well, it didn’t take long to realize instead of a Serious Work of Fiction, I had just written a dull, depressing book.
But here’s the thing: I had finished a whole novel! Sure, no one, aside from my ever-loving mom would read it, but I finished it. And that meant I could do it again.
The next time, I tried writing the kind of book I loved to read. It was full of excitement and drama and even a little magic. I liked the story when it was finished, but I knew it wasn’t great. Why? It didn’t read like a story I would write. It read like a story I wrote to sound like other writers. Does that make sense?
But once again, I had finished. And that meant I could do it again. This time, I wrote a story only I could tell. I shared it the way I would tell a friend a story. I love that novel, and so did my friend and agent, Nicole, but publishers didn’t agree that it was ready for bookshelves.
I didn’t give up. I sat down and wrote again. This time, PACK OF DORKS. And you know what? It was so fun to write. I cracked myself up as I typed in the coffee shop. I teared up, too, during certain scenes. When I was done, I was so proud because I knew this was a story only I could create.
Where’s your favorite place to write?
I have three. The first is for when I’m home alone. Then I put on HGTV and write while sitting on the couch, preferably with a cup of coffee in my favorite mug and a box of Girl Scout cookies. My second favorite is in the summer, when I write on our deck next to the little pond. My children are usually playing in the woods surrounding our yard, so in between the croaks of the frogs in the pond, I hear them as they scurry up trees and explore the wilderness. The third is the coffee shop in town. My daughter, who also loves to write, brings her laptop, too. We’ll sit side by side, me with my coffee (black, thank you) and her with her smoothie (vanilla bean), and write. She jokes that it’s quality time with Mom, where we basically ignore each other for hours. The key to a good writing place seems to be a lot of background noise!
What scares you?
Spiders, falling and fevers.
What is a dork?
To me, a dork is someone who isn’t like everyone else and doesn’t try to be. Too many of us spend too much time trying to fit in, to be like everyone else, when what we really want is to stand out. Celebrate what sets you apart! Be a dork!
A Chat With Beth Vrabel About Her Middle Grade Novel "A Blind Guide to Stinkville"
In Beth Vrabel's funny, touching middle grade novel "A Blind Guide to Stinkville," a spunky 12- year old named Alice moves with her family from Seattle to a small paper mill town in South Carolina. In Seattle, Alice's blindness and albinism were almost a non-issue.
By
Mary Pauline Lowry, Contributor
Author of the novel WILDFIRE
Oct 13, 2015, 12:28 PM EDT
|Updated Dec 6, 2017
This post was published on the now-closed HuffPost Contributor platform. Contributors control their own work and posted freely to our site. If you need to flag this entry as abusive, send us an email.
In Beth Vrabel's funny, touching middle grade novel "A Blind Guide to Stinkville," a spunky 12- year old named Alice moves with her family from Seattle to a small paper mill town in South Carolina. In Seattle, Alice's blindness and albinism were almost a non-issue. Alice attended a regular school and all her friends and community members understood and accepted her diagnosis. But in Stinkville, for the first time she has to not only find her way in a new town, but also continually explain her visual impairment and albinism to new people who don't understand her diagnosis.
Kirkus Review writes that Alice's journey encompasses "the rarely explored ambivalence of being disabled on a spectrum. Alice's insistence that she's 'not that blind' rings true with both stubbornness and confusion as she avails herself of some tools while not needing others, in contrast to typically unambiguous portrayals."
I spoke to Beth Vrabel about the novel.
How and why were you drawn to write a novel with a narrator who has albinism and is blind?
My tween daughter has a form of albinism and, like all people with the genetic condition, is visually impaired. I didn't realize that albinism runs on a spectrum. While she has a mild form of it, many children with albinism are legally blind, like Alice in "A Blind Guide to Stinkville." It takes a long time to figure out the extent of a baby's visual acuity. For months, we didn't know where our baby fell in that spectrum. Was she blind? If so, what would that mean for her future? For our family? A lot of that projection inspired Alice and her family.
Advertisement
Hand-in-hand with that, I very quickly realized that while my daughter was born with a challenge, she is so much more than her diagnosis. Truthfully, most of the time her visual impairment just is something to accommodate, not a big deal. So it's always a bit of a culture shock when we come across characters with albinism in print or on screen and they're mystical, devious or sickly. That's so not true. So I guess I also wanted to tell the story of a girl who discovers she is strong, capable and smart, and just happens to have albinism.
2015-10-12-1444691917-9829806-Stinkville_Cover.jpg
Yes! Alice was all of those things--strong, capable, smart--but also very charming and good with people. In the novel she and her family are dealing with their recent move from Seattle, Washington to Sinkville, South Carolina. Everyone calls the town Stinkville because of the smell coming from the town paper mill. And everything in the town is centered on the paper mill itself, so the odor is unavoidable. We know Alice is at home in Stinkville when she no longer notices the odor. What made you choose a paper mill town as the setting?
Oh, that's easy! I grew up in a paper mill town. In fact, most of my family still lives in or around that same town, where everyone knows someone who works at the mill and just about everything is named after it, including the library and local diner. Further out of town, there is a huge man-made lake, built to give the mill an emergency water source. My dad would take me fishing there when I was a kid. I was fascinated by the roads and driveways that led right into the water and the stories my grandpa would tell me about the whole farms that had been submerged under the water. I loved the little town, and couldn't understand the groaning out-of-towners would make when they visited. The smell wasn't that bad! And then I moved away.
Now when I come home, the smell smacks me in the face! I knew I wanted Alice to have a constant reminder of her move and it couldn't be anything too visual, given her blindness. Enter the paper mill!
Advertisement
It's funny what crops up in my writing. Things I haven't thought about for years--like the homes I had imagined under the lake--suddenly pop up. It happened in my first novel "Pack of Dorks," too, when my long-gone grandma showed up again and again.
The move from Seattle to Stinkville triggers a severe episode of depression for Alice's mother, who struggles with moving from a hip city in the Northwest to a stinky little paper mill town. Could you talk about writing for middle grade readers about adult depression?
I'll admit, it was painful to write. Alice would see glimmers of her healthy "Seattle mom" and the next day, or even a moment later, she's gone. While Alice's mom is the one depressed, the disease tangles each family member. Her father throws himself into work, telling them all that Mom needs space and time to adjust. Alice's brother James shutters himself in, refusing to let anyone see his pain. Alice is left floundering, studying her mom for hope and grappling with resentment at the same time. It's impossible for adults to understand, let alone a child, how someone can be so loved, so needed and still so sad. Like any kid, Alice can't help but wonder if she's responsible for the depression and what she can do to make it stop. And, yes, part of me wanted Alice to be able to do something to snap her mother out of it; Alice certainly tries. But that's just not how it works. Her mom needs time, medical care and love to become healthy again.
As Alice explores Stinkville she learns about the civil rights struggle that took place in the town decades earlier and how the then-owner of the Williams Café helped the restaurant to become both a symbol of integration and a "hotspot for promoting the [civil rights] movement." Can you talk a bit about this dovetailing of the issues of race and disability or "otherness"?
Advertisement
Everyone faces challenges. Some people are even born with them. This is an expression we use a lot in my family, and I think it often applies to both issues. A person living with a disability often faces exclusion in a thousand subtle ways. Similarly, minority children must jump hurdle and hurdle just to reach equal ground.
This is why I absolutely love the We Need Diverse Books movement. Having characters like Alice and Kerica share their stories and make big differences in their community because of--not despite of--their challenges gives power to all children. Because we're all going to face challenges.
2015-10-12-1444691944-4985931-Beth_Vrabel_author_photo.jpg
Beth Vrabel, author of "A Blind Guide to Stinkville"
So for readers who aren't familiar, "Pack of Dorks" was your debut novel and is part of a series. I've read that "Camp Dork," the second novel in the series, will be published in May 2016. I'm really looking forward to it! Is "A Blind Guide to Stinkville" a stand alone novel, or will it be part of a series as well?
Oh, I'm so glad you asked this. I'm super excited to share that "A Blind Guide to Normal" will release October 2016! Toward the end of "Stinkville," we meet Ryder, who lost an eye when he was younger due to retinoblastoma. Ryder's only in one chapter, but, man! He steals the show. In the follow-up book, Ryder leaves a school for the blind to enter "normal" school for eighth grade. But when he manages to humiliate the school hero, fall for the fierce girl next door, accidentally join the school quilting club and knock out his science teacher all on day one, Ryder quickly realizes that there's no such thing as normal. I love this kid.
Author Chat with Beth Vrabel, Camp Dork (Pack of Dorks #2), plus Giveaway!
May 26, 20162 Comments
Written by Beth Edwards, Blog Manager
Posted in Giveaways, News & Updates
Camp-Dork.jpg
Today on the YABC blog we are happy to sit down with author Beth Vrabel
and talk with her about her upcoming release, Camp Dork, which released
on shelves on May 3rd, 2016.
YABC: What surprised you most while writing your latest book?
I was surprised how much fun I had going back to Lucy’s world. A lot of writing PACK OF DORKS, the first book in the series, was spent getting to know the characters—how they interact, what makes them tick, their passions and insecurities. This time around, the characters were chatting away from the get-go. Writing their adventures at summer camp was pure joy! For me, anyway. They didn’t always have an easy go of it. (Sorry about all those bug bites and sweaty hikes, kids.)
YABC: If you could live in any fantasy world, which one would it be?
Definitely not the Hunger Games. Pretty much anything but the Hunger Games.
When I was a kid, I spent a lot of time imagining finding a secret world entrance somewhere in my closet. The only thing I ever did find was a hole my dad punched in the dry wall on his thousandth try at getting the sliding door to align with the track. I pointed it out to my sister, who told me told me a witch lived in the hole, thereby crushing my desire to continue searching for Narnia and depriving me of about a half-decade of sound sleep (She also told me the witch was so small, she’d probably only be able to reach the bottom bunk. Guess which bunk was mine?). So if I could get to a fantasy world, I think I’d go for Narnia.
YABC: Do you have a mantra that gets you through the drafting phase?
Yes! “After this, chocolate.”
YABC: What is your favorite hobby when you’re not writing?
My town has an awesome antique auction held in an old barn every Saturday night. I love going there and buying the furniture everyone else has given up on—china cabinets from the 1940s with peeling veneer, old dressers with drawers that don’t quite close, Victorian-era mahogany chairs stuffed with horsehair. I’ll get them for a steal (about $40 is my cap), refinish or reupholster and then find a place for it in my house. Usually this means moving all the furniture around my house until it feels right. It’s become such a habit that for my past two birthdays, my in-laws have given me furniture sliders and furniture dollies. They’re the best gifts ever!
I do a lot of rearranging or redecorating in the house when I’m stuck in a story plot, too. My husband will come home from work, look around and say, “Oh no! Bad writing day?” when everything is spotless and arranged differently.
YABC: Which character gave you the most trouble when writing your latest book?
Mr. Bosserman! Not surprisingly, he also ended up being my favorite character. He’s an old Pennsylvania Dutch man, who might or might not quite closely resemble my grandpa in demeanor and appearance. Some might even call Mr. Bosserman surly. But just like my pappy, who always makes sure there is plenty of candy for the both of us, Mr. Bosserman has a sweet side.
YABC: Do you enjoy writing to music? If so, do you have a go-to playlist?
I LOVE writing to music. In fact, I make a playlist for each book I’ve written or am writing. Oddly enough, despite writing funny books, I tend to listen to achingly sad songs. Some of my CAMP DORK playlist includes:
“Across the Universe” cover by Rufus Wainwright
“American Hearts” by A.A. Bondy
“Birds and Stars” by Elephant Revival
“Where is My Mind” by Pixies
YABC: Is there an organization or cause that is close to your heart?
Yes! I love the Wolf Sanctuary of PA, http://wolfsanctuarypa.blogspot.com. A lot of readers ask if this is the sanctuary I used as basis for the one in the PACK OF DORKS series. Sadly, it isn’t. I took bits and pieces of many different places I researched and took advantage of a creative liberty to create the sanctuary in the books. But I did visit the Wolf Sanctuary of PA after writing the book. Since PACK OF DORKS released, I’ve been there twice and keep track of its news through the website and social media. I would love to go back again! The volunteers and workers at the sanctuary have such passion and respect for the animals in their care. The sanctuary has grown tremendously in recent years but it still has to turn away rescues due to finances and space.
YABC: What’s a book that you’ve read recently that you would recommend to your readers?
Can I recommend two? AVENGING THE OWL by Melissa Hart is fantastic. Readers will be pulling for Solo to find a home in his town and peace in his family. Hart weaves in fascinating information about raptors, especially owls, too.
I also love the Andi Boggs series by Amanda Flower. Andi’s a great role model on being brave, kind and curious. Plus she’s a sleuth! The third book in the series, ANDI UNSTOPABLE, just won an Agatha Award for Best Children’s/YA!
YABC: Which part of the writing process do you enjoy more: Drafting or Revising?
I prefer revising. I think it’s akin to my love for rearranging the furniture in my house. I get a kick out of shifting the pieces of my stories around until I can breathe out a sigh of relief, knowing everything has a place and every thing is in its place.
YABC: What would you say is your superpower?
I am supremely adept at baking cakes that are both burnt on the outside and raw in the middle . I also am capable of turning just about anything into a metaphor. Because aren’t we all a little charred on the outside but deep inside, just need a little more time?
Meet Camp Dork!
Camp Dork (Pack of Dorks #2)
Amazon * B&N * Indiebound
Meet Beth Vrabel !
Beth Vrabel
Beth Vrabel grew up in a small town in Pennsylvania. She won a short-story contest in fourth grade and promptly decided writing was what she was going to do with her life. Although her other plans—becoming a wolf biologist, a Yellowstone National Park ranger, and a professional roller skater—didn’t come to fruition, she stuck with the writing. She is the author of Pack of Dorks and the upcoming A Blind Guide to Stinkville. Beth lives with her wonderful husband, two charming children, a spoiled rotten puppy, and two fat guinea pigs in Canton, Connecticut.
Website * Twitter * Facebook
Camp Dork (Pack of Dorks #2)
Camp Dork (Pack of Dorks #2)
By: Beth Vrabel
Release Date: May 3, 2016
*GIVEAWAY DETAILS*
Five winners will each receive a copy of Camp Dork by Beth Vrabel
(US & Canada only).
*Click the Rafflecopter link below to enter the giveaway*
QUOTED: "When I was writing To Tell You the Truth, I spent a lot of time researching my family history. Many of the stories Gran tells Trixy are rooted in my family lore, though they branch in new directions and outcomes. I drafted much of this book during the early phases of Covid, when what scared me more than anything was loss. Collectively and personally, we were all suddenly dealing with so much grief. That informed Trixy’s journey."
Search this site
Q & A with Connecticut Authors: Beth Vrabel
Share this...
Share on facebookShare on pinterestShare on twitterShare on linkedin
October 14, 2022 • Features & News, Q & A
Registration is open for the 2022 Connecticut Book Awards!
When: October 23, 2022 | 3:00-5:00 p.m.
Where: Hartford Public Library
REGISTER HERE
Please note that clicking the button will bring you to another site for registration.
Q&A
COVID is still with us, although easing off a little, thank goodness. Did you have a favorite comfort genre to turn to when things were looking bleak? Something that lifted you away and to a different place for a while?
I took a deep dive into mythology and folklore the past couple of years, digging into the foundations of the stories we continue to tell ourselves today. I love seeing the ties to modern themes, and how these ancient heroes and the journeys went on continue to reverberate. I try to read far outside middle grade while I’m drafting so I can keep my focus on the story I want to tell, but whispers of these myths and fairy tales have been echoing in my current work.
Where do you get your inspiration?
For me, there are two questions that usually prompt a story-in-the-making. First, I ask myself: What do I know to be true? This will inevitably form the roots to my story. Once I have that answer, I go to my second question: What scares me? This is where the journey my characters take begins to sprout. When I was writing To Tell You the Truth, I spent a lot of time researching my family history. Many of the stories Gran tells Trixy are rooted in my family lore, though they branch in new directions and outcomes. I drafted much of this book during the early phases of Covid, when what scared me more than anything was loss. Collectively and personally, we were all suddenly dealing with so much grief. That informed Trixy’s journey as she leaned into that fear and figured out a way to carry both loss and hope.
Who made reading important to you?
Every evening, my parents would sit side by side in the living room. My dad would read every bit of the morning and evening newspapers, passing some sections to my mom and, later, me. My mom would be beside him, quietly turning the pages of her thriller or novel. About once a week, we’d go to the library, and my bag of books would be so full it cut into my shoulder. Grabbing a book on the way out the door was as natural as reaching for car keys. Finishing a great book and passing it onto a loved one was how you showed you cared, that you wanted your stories to overlap. Reading was stitched into the fabric of our daily lives. I’m so grateful to my parents for modeling a love of literacy.
What is your favorite book to give an adult or a child?
My favorite book to give a child is Power to the Princess by Vita Murrow. This book of fifteen retold fairy tales shifts autonomy to the princesses. Rapunzel is an architect who focuses on making buildings functional and accessible to everyone. Little Red Riding Hood is an environmentalist who works to re-establish a solid ecosystem. It’s a delightful book to read and a beautiful gift to give!
What did you want to be when you grew up?
From the time I was ten years old, I wanted to be a writer. That was how old I was when I won a short story contest at my local library. Okay, to tell you the truth, I placed fourth. I’m pretty sure there were only four entries, too. But I fell in love with writing, with the awareness that even as an awkward, painfully shy child, I could fill a page with my thoughts to share wholly with someone else. Suddenly, all of my other lifelong aspirations (namely to become a professional roller skater) were pushed aside. I was a writer. To be clear, I wasn’t a good writer. Not yet. But I was determined to become one.
Who was your childhood hero?
Nellie Bly. Bly is often considered to the founder of investigative journalism. Born in 1864, Bly was barely in her twenties when she started reporting on huge issues, including divorce reform, the abuse of women in medical facilities and corruption in government. She was fearless about pursuing stories that mattered to her and sharing her perspective. As a kid so shy I could barely whisper my order to a waitress, I couldn’t imagine the boldness Bly embodied.
Bio
Beth Vrabel is author of the critically acclaimed book To Tell You the Truth, Cybils’-nominated Caleb and Kit, ILA award-winning A Blind Guide to Stinkville, JLG selection A Blind Guide to Normal, The Reckless Club, and the Pack of Dorks series. As a former journalist, she speaks from both a professional point of reference and personal experience. She lives in Canton, Connecticut.
Sep 4 Fighting Prose Interview with Beth Vrabel
Welcome to my in-depth author series Fighting Prose. Where I talk to authors in the industry on what their process is like and what it takes for them to keep on creating, through all the odds. This week I’ve interviewed Beth Vrabel.
Since our last names start with V (hers) and Y (me), Beth and I ended up sitting next to each other at a book festival many years ago. Those of you that have been to book festivals know how small those tables are… Beth and I broke the ice within the first hour. It was an interesting festival (to say the least) with very little foot traffic. All we had for entertainment were people watching and seeing who could crack the most jokes. (However, I think Beth’s daughter might have won.)
For me, it was one of those moments - I knew that if Beth was my neighbor, we’d end up being best friends. She’s confident and has a great sense of humor and we’ve stayed in touch ever since.
Continue reading to find out just how hilarious she is!
How long have you been writing?
I wrote my first story when I was about 11 years old. My mom read this terrible little story and didn't focus on misspelled words, mucked-up plot points or missing grammar. She just said, "Someday, Beth, you're going to write a story, and it's going to be published." Sounded like a good enough life plan, one that would mesh well with my other goals at the time (becoming a professional roller skater and a Yellowstone Park ranger), so I went with it. Eventually, those other dreams died, but I stuck with the writing. My first career was in journalism. I transitioned into writing books when my kids were toddlers and I stayed home with them.
Of your many, many books, which is your favorite?
Right now, I'm most excited about THE HUMILIATIONS OF PIPI MCGEE (out Sept. 17). Every school year of Penelope's life has been marred with humiliation—everything from drawing herself as bacon in kindergarten to peeing her pants on the third grade field trip, to seventh grade, when the shame was so intense Penelope never, ever talks about it. She has one more year before high school, and she's determined to gain redemption for all of her humiliations. But she'll settle for revenge.
This was so much fun to write---and super cathartic, too. I not only delved into my own embarrassing moments (I'm looking at you, mullet of 1996), I also crowd sourced my friends and families for cringe-worthy memories they couldn't get over. Almost all made it into Pipi's story.
What's your favorite genre to read? Write?
I love reading middle grade, which is also what I write. But when I'm actively on deadline, I try to read outside that genre so I keep my own voice and storyline distinct in my mind. I've been on a big Stephen King kick lately, which is about as far from middle grade as you can get!
Tell me about your process: How do you get in the mood to write? How do your characters come together? How do you get your ideas?
I feel like my process is constantly evolving. It used to be sitting in the middle of a busy coffee shop, I think because the buzz of it was the closest thing to working in a newsroom. We recently moved back to New England, and I have a big office right next to the kitchen. So now my process kicks off with mellow music (I love me some Flora Cash), lighting a candle and sitting in a big cozy chair. My laptop is in front of me, my coffee beside me, and my pain-in-the-butt dog curled behind my head. My ideas come from everywhere—a song lyric, a conversation with my kids, a memory I keep reliving in the shower or as I fall asleep. Once I have a snippet of an idea, I use Scrivener, a writing platform, to create character profiles, including pictures, characteristics and backstory. I plot snapshots (3-5 sentences) of what I think should happen in each chapter, which Scrivener saves like index cards. When I'm actually writing, those index cards are a guide, but if I'm really cooking, the characters take over. When I'm close to deadline and in must-write-or-else mode, I'm most likely sitting at the kitchen counter with a bag of chips or a box of Cheez-its.
Who do you admire the most in the writing world?
Jason Reynolds is a definite favorite. His personal story—not reading a full novel until he was in high school—is inspiring. His work is astounding. I could barely breathe while reading LONG WAY DOWN, which entirely takes place during the span of one elevator ride. Every interview Reynolds gives or opportunity he seizes to speak focuses on children and how they can be empowered. If we're talking broadly, I think the group I admire most would be librarians. These dedicated, book-loving people are on the front lines of communities and schools, making sure that everyone who walks through the door has access to stories that honor, reflect or change them, and in doing so, can change the world.
If you're not busy writing, what are you busy doing?
I love going for runs.* *When I say run, I really mean a fast, stumbling walk.
Have you ever had writers block? If so, how did you get out of it?
Yes! I rearrange furniture. That doesn't really seem to help but at least I'm doing something. My daughter will come home from school, see everything swapped around and sparkling clean, and will give me a hug. "Poor Mom. Bad writing day?"
For a writer starting out what advice would you give them?
Get a dog, maybe even two. They make sure you take a walk once in a while, keep your lap warm while you write, force you to share your snacks, and are excellent fodder for Instagram posts.
Have you always been creative? Has it always been writing?
You know, I always thought writing was my only creative knack, but I've started taking on more and more home improvement things—such as refinishing and reupholstering furniture—and I guess that counts.
What is your dream writing location?
I always think a dock in the middle of a serene lake would be amazing, but I know I'd probably trip and dump my laptop into the water. Sometimes I also think about going on one of those writing retreats where I'd be in a little cottage in the woods with no wifi, just my laptop and unlimited snacks. But then I'd probably tear through my data plan and eat unlimited snacks. Maybe a castle in Scotland? I've never been there, but it seems pretty ideal.
In reference to your books, what question do you get asked the most?
People ask if I want them to be movies. Of course, I want them to be movies. *Shoots stink eye at Netflix.*
If you could bring one of your characters to life who would it be? Why?
Tooter, the fat, farting dog in A BLIND GUIDE TO STINKVILLE. Sure, I already have two fat, farting dogs, but with Tooter we could be a pack.
unnamed.jpg
51kpac6MJeL._SX329_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg
31r0QtNH1DL._SY346_.jpg
Beth Vrabel is author of the Cybils'-nominated Caleb and Kit, ILA award-winning A Blind Guide to Stinkville, JLG-selection A Blind Guide to Normal, The Reckless Club,and the Pack of Dorks series. She has received starred and positive trade reviews across the board for all of her novels and is active in school and library visits around the country. She and her family live in Connecticut.
QUOTED: "As readers follow The Newspaper Club reporters’ debate about what comprises a news story and how it should be shared, my hope is that they’ll develop expectations of fairness, accuracy, and objectivity for the media they consume."
In Conversation: Cynthia Copeland and Beth Vrabel
Mar 03, 2020
Comments Click Here
Mark Corliss
Cynthia Copeland (l.) and Beth Vrabel.
Cynthia Copeland is the bestselling author and illustrator of more than 25 books for children and adults, including the photographic picture book Really Important Stuff My Dog Has Taught Me (Workman, 2014) and the Dilly’s Adventures series for young readers (Millbrook). Her debut middle-grade graphic memoir, Cub (Algonquin, Jan.), takes places in 1972–1973, when the then-12-year-old job-shadowed a local news reporter. Beth Vrabel is the author of The Reckless Club (Running Press Kids, 2018) and the Pack of Dorks series (Sky Pony). Drawing from her career as a journalist, Vrabel’s new book, The Newspaper Club (Running Press Kids, Mar.),kicks off a series about a group of kid reporters. We asked Copeland and Vrabel to interview each other about their new middle-grade books and their backgrounds in journalism.
Beth Vrabel: How awesome that we’re both bringing stories about strong, brave reporters to bookshelves! Your love of journalism is deep rooted—I read that you began your own newspaper as a kid, sharing it with the people in your neighborhood. This is exactly what The Newspaper Club kids do in their New England town! How much, if anything, in Cub is inspired by your own experiences?
Cynthia Copeland: Wow, flashback to The Talmadge Lane Tattler, the neighborhood newspaper I started when I was 10! I paid my brothers (who were eight and six at the time) a penny a week to report the news to me, so as you might imagine, it was a bit thin on news and heavy on jokes, riddles, and limericks. Our biggest scoop was when Mr. Marin had an accident with his station wagon and then had it repaired before anyone in his family saw the damage; as soon as he glanced at that headline, he quickly bought up every copy of the paper!
Cub is a graphic novel based on my time as a cub reporter for a regional newspaper in Connecticut in the early ’70s, when I was 12. A hip, young female reporter agreed to mentor me, and so two or three times a week we set off in her rickety VW Beetle on a reporting adventure. As a backdrop to my story, prominent journalists were covering significant national issues: Watergate, the Vietnam War, the Equal Rights Amendment, Earth Day marches, and the presidential election of 1972. It was an exciting time to be reporting the news!
RELATED STORIES:
More in Children's -> Authors
Request permission to reprint of this article.
FREE E-NEWSLETTERS
Enter e-mail address
PW Daily Tip Sheet
subscribeMore Newsletters
Fast forward to today, when journalists—and journalism—are under attack. Not only are reporters personally threatened, but the industry is in peril as financial instability threatens to shutter many news organizations. The real crisis, of course, is in local news coverage. In fact, just as Cub published, I learned that the main office of the very newspaper at the center of my story closed after 145 years.
I hope young readers of Cub come away with an understanding of the critical role that journalists play in a democracy, an especially complex issue today as we are all bombarded with information, much of it from unreliable sources. Within the context of an exciting series of stories with compelling characters, are you hoping to convey some larger messages about the current state of journalism in The Newspaper Club?
Vrabel: Sounds like the Tattler lived up to its name for poor Mr. Marin!
As readers follow The Newspaper Club reporters’ debate about what comprises a news story and how it should be shared, my hope is that they’ll develop expectations of fairness, accuracy, and objectivity for the media they consume. [Protagonist] Nellie grew up in a newsroom; she has a keen appreciation for reporters’ passion, commitment, and especially ethics. Her father taught her that everyone has a story, and that every story is important. In my experience as a reporter for my hometown newspaper, this was a daily lesson. My neighbors entrusted me with something precious—their story—and I had a responsibility to get it right.
I’ll never forget when a tornado ripped through town. A recent college graduate, I had been a reporter less than a year. My editor said, “Looks like it’s going to be at this intersection soon, head there. If you need me, I’ll be on the roof.” I learned a lot about commitment on that day... and also that I might be better suited for the features department. The next day, my mom called me. “You won’t believe this, Beth!” she said, and then began to read my own article back to me. She had been so absorbed she never read the byline. That’s another aspect I hope The Newspaper Club readers will take in—that journalism knits us all into a shared experience. It breaks my heart to think of small-town newspapers closing their doors, and the isolating effect of no longer having those shared stories.
But in order for Nellie and the rest of The Newspaper Club reporters to be successful, they have to convince townspeople that they’re a “real” newspaper. Being taken seriously is a big hurdle. In Cub, Cindy struggles not only with being seen as just a kid but also because she is a girl. Cynthia, what prompted you to include female empowerment as a theme in Cub?
Copeland: What an unbelievable experience! Imagine how eagerly the people in your town—like your mom!—waited for the morning paper to find out exactly what happened! People are affected so intimately by local news and yet too many communities are left in the dark now, with no coverage at all. And without that baseline of shared information you referenced, how can we expect people to make educated decisions? I worked as a reporter for a Boston-area newspaper chain after college, and I understood the important role I played in the communities I covered. (I never wrote about anything as exciting as a tornado, although I did go deep into a maximum-security prison to cover a story one time!)
The theme of female empowerment arose organically in Cub as I sifted through my memories of that school year. Not only did Connecticut ratify the ERA in the spring of 1973, but the reporter who was mentoring me was an inspiring feminist—probably the first true feminist I came to know well—who encouraged me to see the world through that lens. (Of course, women were vastly underrepresented in news organizations then.) And my dad, who was so loving and kind, was also very old-fashioned, and envisioned an exciting and challenging future for my brothers that he didn’t envision for me. One of the panels in my graphic novel shows my mom and me washing the dinner dishes as my brothers and dad sit at the table and discuss “important” issues of the day. I wanted to address the concept of gender equality to show young readers how much progress we’ve made in half a century—while acknowledging the significant gap that still exists!
Beth, I’d love to hear more about your own experiences as a journalist, and how they informed some of the storylines for your series.
Vrabel: I love that scene with the dishes, Cindy! It’s a simple moment that tells a much larger story about the world at that time.
And, oh yeah, my experiences definitely inform the storylines. My first newsroom experience was at The Daily Collegian, Penn State’s student-run independent newspaper. We students made all editorial decisions from content to design. We had some incredible scoops and kept the town paper on its toes. We also took ownership of our mistakes. I learned so much in that off-campus basement! Once in a while, we’d go to the printers and watch our paper come straight off the presses. I love that Nellie, Min, Thom, Gordon, Charlotte, and Gloria share a similar moment.
In The Newspaper Club, Nellie gets a “spine-tingly” feeling that sends her reaching in her back pocket for her reporter’s notebook and pens. That was one of my favorite things about being a reporter. Cindy seems to share that love of curiosity throughout Cub. What’s something else readers should know about Cindy?
Copeland: Great question! Readers will initially know Cindy as a quiet seventh grader who prefers to stay in the background; they will follow her journey as she gains courage and finds her voice through her job as a cub reporter. I hope they will notice how the confidence she develops from her experiences reporting the news enables her to speak up in social situations—and also makes her a more sought-after and interesting friend!
In fact, I hope Cub inspires young readers to pursue their own interests outside of school, whether writing, art, dance, music.... The self-confidence kids gain from engaging in activities they love helps them navigate social issues more easily and puts middle school drama in perspective. Having a full and fulfilling life apart from school reminds kids that the world is bigger than their seventh grade hallway.
It’s always interesting to answer questions about the characters in Cub given that they are all based on real people! Do you feel a special connection with any of the Newspaper Club members? Is there one in particular who reminds you of a young Beth?
Vrabel: As hard as I try, I’ve never managed to create a character who isn’t reflective of at least a part of me. I feel the strongest connection, though, to Nellie. I was a painfully shy kid; at one point, a classmate asked me if I even knew how to talk! I fell in love with writing pretty early, at about age 10, when I wrote my first short story. It was the first draft of the first story I had ever written—it was terrible! But having an entire page to fill, uninterrupted, with my thoughts was so powerful. I fell in love with the idea of being a journalist around then, too, pretending I was a reporter tasked with covering the stories around me. Like Nellie, when I had a notebook in my hand, I felt brave, stronger. I totally agree with you that we all need to find something that helps us navigate and keep perspective.
Thank you so much for this chance to chat with you! I can’t wait to see Cub and The Newspaper Club on bookshelves next month!
Copeland: What fun this has been! I hope our stories inspire young people to think about the importance of quality journalism, especially today—and maybe even contemplate a future for themselves as news reporters!
Cub by Cynthia L. Copeland. Algonquin, $12.95 Jan. 7 ISBN 978-1-61620-848-6
The Newspaper Club (The Newspaper Club #1) by Beth Vrabel. Running Press Kids, $16.99 Mar. 10 ISBN 978-0-7624-9685-3
QUOTED: "My daughter has a form of albinism, much more mild that Alice’s, the character’s. She wanted to read a book with a character who is just a regular girl doing regular things and who happens to have this shared challenge. But when we looked for that book, and then spread that search out to look for a comic book or a movie . . . everything we found was purely about being blind or purely about having albinism."
"These characters tended to be villains or witches, or [have] all sorts of magical components instead of just being a regular person who happened to be born with an additional challenge. And so it meant a lot to me to portray Alice as a typical kid."
September 13, 2017
Icebreaker: Beth Vrabel
“We underestimate the amount of strength that children have.”
Interview by Cat, Deputy Editor
Beth Vrabel, author of heartfelt middle grade novel Caleb and Kit, talks with Deputy Editor Cat Acree. Sponsored by Running Press Kids.
Share this Article:
BookPage IcebreakerThis BookPage Icebreaker is sponsored by Running Press Kids.
In her new novel, Caleb and Kit, Beth Vrabel, the award-winning author of A Blind Guide to Stinkville, captures the power of new friendship—and the complicated heartbreak of needing to let someone go. Twelve-year-old Caleb is smaller and more protected than any other kid in his grade. He has cystic fibrosis, and his single mom does her best to keep him healthy and safe (while balancing her own life, like going on dates). But this summer, Caleb wanders off into the woods rather than attend summer day camp, and he meets the nonjudgmental, wild and free Kit. But as Caleb joins his new friend on adventures, he begins to realize that Kit has troubles of her own.
Cat: This book is such a balance of tough stuff and sweetness. I don’t know if it was a phrase that you picked or your publisher picked for you, but your books are described as having “grit and heart.” This sounds like a literary mantra that totally sums up what Caleb and Kit is all about.
Beth: “Grit and heart” is very meaningful to me in that it can tell stories to children who often shy away from dealing with the reality of their lives. Their lives are very messy, very complicated. Just like an adult’s life is a delicate balance of good and bad, a child’s is as well. We underestimate the amount of strength that children have. I think of my own two children . . . you can deliver bad news to them however minute, and they jest. They move on from it. They pick up and they move forward. And I think that it’s the same for most children, that we want to protect them but we end up sheltering them. We don’t have to. They’re capable of making these connections with a strength that we underestimate over and over and over again.
Absolutely. And giving kids the opportunity to find that power is so important, but it can be hard to let them go as a parent. But I think that’s what happens with Caleb. He finds his way to his own power, but it takes some doing.
Yeah. Caleb has all the information about cystic fibrosis, about his personal challenge. He’s done the research. He’s present at the doctor’s appointment. He knows what his numbers should be. But then you have Kit, who has not been given the information. She has to draw her own conclusions about what’s going on in her life. She still finds that grit. She still finds that power, and to me, that shows how we all will draw our own conclusions if we don’t have the right information, so we might as well just give people the opportunity to know the truth. If that makes any sense.
Yes, it does. Caleb and Kit seem to balance each other. What do you think is most important about writing characters like Caleb and Kit, who are struggling to find their own power? How do you honor them while also writing their difficult stories?
I think the most important thing in undertaking something like that is to not have it be a book about that issue. I did not set out to write a book about cystic fibrosis, and I don’t think that I did. I wrote a book about Caleb, who happens to have cystic fibrosis. That was really driven home to me in the process of writing my last book, A Blind Guide to Stinkville, which features a protagonist who is legally blind due to albinism. . . . My daughter has a form of albinism, much more mild that Alice’s, the character’s. She wanted to read a book with a character who is just a regular girl doing regular things and who happens to have this shared challenge. But when we looked for that book, and then spread that search out to look for a comic book or a movie . . . everything we found was purely about being blind or purely about having albinism. These characters tended to be villains or witches, or [have] all sorts of magical components instead of just being a regular person who happened to be born with an additional challenge.
And so it meant a lot to me to portray Alice as a typical kid, and then when it came time to write Caleb and Kit, I wanted it to be a story about friendship, about being in that situation that we all find ourselves at some point in our lives, when you realize you need to break up with a friend for whatever reason.
I think you made that clear right away. On page eight of my galley, there’s a wonderful bit about how trees have to grow apart from each other to share the sun, and there’s that one line that kills: “I wondered if it hurt, twisting away from your friend like that.”
Oh, and that hurts so bad.
That is such a hard concept.
It is. And you know, we’re not taught how to do that. We’re taught to—“OK, somebody hurt your feelings, tell them it’s OK. We’re all friends here”—instead of being taught that sometimes friendships don’t work out. And that’s OK!
When I set up to write this book, it was important to me that Caleb had an additional challenge because it was so important for my daughter to have that. I wanted that experience for other children as well. So, that’s when I set out to include cystic fibrosis. That’s when Caleb became very difficult to write.
In your acknowledgements you said it was so difficult that you almost dropped the first-person perspective and went to third person. That would’ve been a big change.
That was a weak moment for sure. I know each person’s process is different, but for me, I get to the point where I can really see a character in front of me and feel what they’re feeling. I can refer to them in conversations the way I would my children. Usually at that point the story is good. It’s cooking. It’s ready to fry onto the page. But with Caleb, that became very difficult. I didn’t want this [cystic fibrosis] for him. And I had to get over that and stop feeling sorry for him. Stop having the cystic fibrosis come first and have it be about Caleb.
I feel like there were two main things that really helped balance how tough Caleb’s life is, and as we learn more about Kit, how tough Kit’s life is. First, Caleb’s mom—who is my new favorite literary mom—and second, the setting of the woods.
[chuckles] I love her.
Her relationship with Caleb is so great, and yes, he does have to rebel against her. Even the greatest moms have to be rebelled against. But she’s just fighting for him, and when he gets in these moments of self-pity, she won’t let him stay there. She is a total hero.
I really like her, too. I’m glad you said that. She’s so, so strong, and yet she still carves out some time for herself, too. For herself to have this new relationship, this new part of her life—as Caleb’s getting independence, she’s getting some, too.
The world doesn’t revolve around Caleb.
Yeah! And she makes sure that he knows that “I’m always there for you, but we have our lives, too” and . . . it’s in a much gentler, more caring way than Caleb’s dad. And then, the woods!
The woods! In so many children’s books—well, all types of literature—woods are so scary. It’s where the fear and the unknown is, and you go in there and you come out changed. Caleb comes out changed, sure, but he meets his new friend, Kit, in there. And in your descriptions of those woods, I could picture forests that I grew up tramping around in Tennessee, that were sunny and secluded and precious.
The woods were always a natural place for me growing up. I thought when I was a kid that I lived in the woods. I didn’t. We had a little creek in our backyard and a few trees, and that was my thing. That was my world. And when I was writing Caleb and Kit, I actually did have a house in the woods. We lived in Connecticut, and we could look out and see some fox running through. We had some black bears. It was a magical place for my kids to run out and play and come back holding frogs, or they’d tell me about the turkey they just saw.
It’s so natural to me that Caleb would have this wildness inside of him. He just desperately wants to make his own decisions and be free. But his life is so structured and devout, so having Kit as part of that wildness was really important to me.
I love this idea of finding a friend exactly the moment you need them. Caleb meets Kit exactly when he most needs her, and later we find out it’s mutual. Have you ever had that?
Yes, I have. We moved to Texas in March, so our kids had a month and a half of school. My son could walk to primary school, and I’d be waiting there for him, and I’d wait for him to come back. He started [hanging] with a buddy, and I met that buddy’s mom who [lived] down the street from us. She had just moved to the area, too, so we were talking about how difficult it is and how we were worried about who our kids were going sit with in the cafeteria, and how are they going find these connections? Somehow or another, she said, “I think we’ve all been there. Even if you’re an adult, sometimes I feel like that moment when you walk into the cafeteria and you wonder who’s going let you sit beside them.”
Now she and I are really great friends, and I’m so thankful that I have her. But I think that is unique. You reach this point where you are lonely and you wonder if anybody else feels what you are going through. And you think that only happens when you are kids, but it happens your whole life.
This is why I tell people, you should probably go back and read children’s books because there are some things that you still need to work on. Like finding friends at exactly the right time.
Right. I know. My mind always goes back to middle grade. It’s when you’re starting to realize your connections to a greater picture and where you belong and whether you want to fit in or stand out.
VRABEL, Beth. Pack of Dorks. 240p. Sky Pony. Oct. 2014. Tr $15.95. ISBN 9781629146232.
Gr 4-6--Lucy is the second most popular girl in fourth grade. She maintains her social standing by obsequiously following her "best friend," queen bee Becky--even when that means succumbing to peer pressure and giving Tom Lemmings a quick kiss during recess. Suddenly, Lucy finds herself being made the butt of jokes and is no longer in her exalted position as a popular kid. When groveling doesn't work, Lucy opens up to spending time with other kids she had previously overlooked and finds herself making some real friends in the process. This book doesn't soft-peddle the strange cruelty that kids inflict on one another, nor does it underestimate the impact. At the same time, it does not wallow unnecessarily. Instead, Lucy finds joy in her new little sister and helps her family gain perspective as they struggle to come to terms with the baby's special needs. The challenging subject matter is handled in a gentle, age-appropriate way with humor and genuine affection. Lucy is likable even when she's not behaving well; just like a real kid. When things work out in the end, it feels as natural as two like-minded kids learning to trust one another.--Amelia Jenkins, Juneau Public Library, AK
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2014 A wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/
Source Citation
Source Citation
MLA 9th Edition APA 7th Edition Chicago 17th Edition Harvard
Jenkins, Amelia. "Vrabel, Beth. Pack of Dorks." School Library Journal, vol. 60, no. 10, Oct. 2014, p. 109. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A384340152/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=938330c3. Accessed 11 Sept. 2024.
QUOTED: "Lucy's perfectly feisty narration, the emotionally resonant situations and the importance of the topic all elevate this effort well above the pack."
Vrabel, Beth PACK OF DORKS Sky Pony Press (Children's Fiction) $15.95 10, 7 ISBN: 978-1-62914-623-2
Debut author Vrabel takes three knotty, seemingly disparate problems--bullying, the plight of wolves and coping with disability--and with tact and grace knits them into an engrossing whole of despair and redemption. Popular fourth-grader Lucy and her best friend, Becky, kiss Tom and Henry behind the shed during recess as their class looks on, Lucy's brief, reluctant peck paling against Becky's smoldering "suction cup" smooch. When Lucy gets home, her mother's in labor; Molly is born later that day with Down syndrome. Back at school on Tuesday, everything has changed. Now disingenuous Becky is with Tom, and Lucy's being shunned by most of the class. Only then does she begin to understand life as an outsider and take a closer look at other bullying victims, each nicely depicted, both negative and positive characteristics colorfully drawn. Assigned to do a project about wolves with fellow victim Sam, Lucy gradually becomes friends with him, and they discover fascinating truths about wolf packs that give them insight into the behavior of their classmates. Simultaneously, Lucy and her parents slowly, believably come to grips with Molly's uncertain future. Useful tips for dealing with bullying are neatly incorporated into the tale but with a refreshing lack of didacticism. Lucy's perfectly feisty narration, the emotionally resonant situations and the importance of the topic all elevate this effort well above the pack. (Fiction. 8-12)
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2014 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
Source Citation
Source Citation
MLA 9th Edition APA 7th Edition Chicago 17th Edition Harvard
"Vrabel, Beth: PACK OF DORKS." Kirkus Reviews, 1 Aug. 2014, p. NA. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A376818351/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=f742be18. Accessed 11 Sept. 2024.
QUOTED: "Humorous and honest, this should appeal to both female and male readers."
Vrabel, Beth. Pack of Dorks. Sky Pony, 2014. 240p. $15.95. 978-1-62914-623-2.
Lucy, fourth-grade student at Autumn Grove Intermediate School, is excited because today when she kisses Tom--and her best friend kisses his best friend--behind the ball shed during recess, it will secure their social position. According to Becky, "You sometimes have to do things you don't want to do" for the sake of popularity, and when you are a dork, "you would do anything" to overcome ostracism. Lucy knows her new ring, delivered moments later, is a real diamond. Over the weekend, Lucy's mom goes into labor, and when Lucy visits at the hospital, she loses track of her ring, noticing only after the family is home. Her parents' distress over the baby's unexpected Down syndrome precludes hunting for the ring and Lucy's dad points out that diamond rings do not turn fingers green. When Lucy returns to school, having missed one day, it takes time for her to realize she is now a social dork.
Lucy's confident first-person narration keeps pages turning as she transitions from totally popular to complete dorkdom in the space of one quick kiss. Issues of bullying, friendship, fitting in, and self-assertion are addressed as Lucy and her peers experience them, and as Lucy watches her parents--with her new sister--experience them. She comes to understand why Becky would "do anything" to be popular but decides against this path; she ultimately forms her own quirkily likeable pack of dorks. Humorous and honest, this should appeal to both female and male readers.--Cynthia Winfield.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2014 E L Kurdyla Publishing LLC
http://www.voya.com
Source Citation
Source Citation
MLA 9th Edition APA 7th Edition Chicago 17th Edition Harvard
Winfield, Cynthia. "Vrabel, Beth. Pack of Dorks." Voice of Youth Advocates, vol. 37, no. 5, Dec. 2014, p. 70. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A424530074/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=cecdcfdd. Accessed 11 Sept. 2024.
QUOTED: "Readers who enjoy realistic fiction and humor will find much to appreciate."
VRABEL, Beth. A Blind Guide to Stinkville. 288p. Sky Pony. Oct. 2015. Tr $16.99. ISBN 9781634501576.
Gr 4-7--Born with albinism, Alice has only 20/200 vision with glasses. Before moving to Sinkville, aka Stinkville, her near blindness wasn't a problem. Having grown up in Seattle all her life, she knew everyone and knew her way around. With no baseline knowledge of Stinkville, no friends, and her family too busy coping with their own problems to help her, Alice must find her own way. When a writing contest offers her a chance to prove she can do anything, Alice and her dog, Tooter, set out to find their own place in their new home. Will they succeed? Will they win the contest? Will she make new friends? Alice is a realistic and easy-to-relate-to character. The dynamics that develop between her and the townsfolk easily draws readers into Alice's new world. The author does a great job of mixing humor with more serious topics like depression, disability, and old age. Readers who enjoy realistic fiction and humor will find much to appreciate. VERDICT An engaging middle grade read for most library collections.--Kira Moody, Whitmore Public Library, Salt Lake City, UT
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2015 A wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/
Source Citation
Source Citation
MLA 9th Edition APA 7th Edition Chicago 17th Edition Harvard
Reeder, Nancy P. "Vrabel, Beth. A Blind Guide to Stinkville." School Library Journal, vol. 61, no. 8, Aug. 2015, p. 94. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A424106070/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=0619ccdc. Accessed 11 Sept. 2024.
QUOTED: "a story that is both informative and gripping."
A Blind Guide to Stinkville. By Beth Vrabel. Oct. 2015.288p. Skyhorse/Sky Pony, $16.99 (9781634501576). Gr. 4-6.
Twelve-year-old Alice has albinism and, though partially sighted, is effectively blind. This makes navigating her new hometown of Sinkville--which everyone calls Stinkville because it houses a smelly paper mill--next to impossible. Fortunately, her grumbling older brother is there to take her to the public library, which becomes a home away from home and is where she makes a new friend in Kerica. Meanwhile, Alices mom is suffering from a recurring bout of depression, and her brother is desperately unhappy, wanting to return to Seattle. Anxious to fit in, Alice decides to enter an essay contest called "Sinkville Success Stories." But what to write about when she can't even find her way around town? And what is wrong with her little dog, Tooter? And will her parents send her to a school for the blind? Yes, there's a lot going on in Vrabel's gende story of a determined girl's efforts to overcome the long odds challenging her. But the author handles her material well and crafts a story that is both informative and gripping.--Michael Cart
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2015 American Library Association
http://www.ala.org/aboutala/offices/publishing/booklist/
Source Citation
Source Citation
MLA 9th Edition APA 7th Edition Chicago 17th Edition Harvard
Cart, Michael. "A Blind Guide to Stinkville." Booklist, vol. 112, no. 1, 1 Sept. 2015, p. 112. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A430716967/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=57293d10. Accessed 11 Sept. 2024.
Vrabel, Beth A BLIND GUIDE TO STINKVILLE Sky Pony Press (Children's Fiction) $16.99 10, 6 ISBN: 978-1-63450-157-6
When Alice and her family move to Sinkville, South Carolina, the town's nickname of Stinkville feels particularly apt. In Seattle, everyone accepted 12-year-old Alice's albinism and blindness. Her best friend guided her through school, and her mother told her stories. In Stinkville, she doesn't know anyone, her brother won't guide her, and her mother's depression worsens. As if that weren't enough, her parents want her to attend the Addison School for the Blind. With trepidation and humor, Alice decides to "advocate for [herself]" and enter the Sinkville Success Stories essay contest. Her research leads her, white cane and (decidedly nonservice) dog in tow, to make friends with the townsfolk and peace with her visual impairment and family upheaval. Some subplots feel contrived, and some characters are stock--the kindly waitress who knows everyone's orders, the whittling old man, the bully who hides her own vulnerability--but their effect is cozy. Most commendable is Vrabel's focus on compromise and culture shock. Disorientation encompasses not only place and attitude, but also the rarely explored ambivalence of being disabled on a spectrum. Alice's insistence that she's "not that blind" rings true with both stubbornness and confusion as she avails herself of some tools while not needing others, in contrast to typically unambiguous portrayals. Readers who worry about fitting in--wherever that may be--will relate to Alice's journey toward compromise and independence. (Fiction. 9-12)
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2015 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
Source Citation
Source Citation
MLA 9th Edition APA 7th Edition Chicago 17th Edition Harvard
"Vrabel, Beth: A BLIND GUIDE TO STINKVILLE." Kirkus Reviews, 1 Aug. 2015, p. NA. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A423540656/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=4531ef70. Accessed 11 Sept. 2024.
VRABEL, Beth. A Blind Guide to Normal. 272p. ebook available. Sky Pony. Oct. 2016. Tr $16.99. ISBN 9781510702288.
Gr 4-6--Richie Ryder Randolf is used to being a big fish in a small pond. At the Addison School for the Blind, he's hilarious, he's smooth, and he's popular enough to serve as a social mentor for others. Relocated to a middle school in suburban Washington, DC, for eighth grade while his scientist parents go on assignment, he's flopping on the shore and gasping for air. Between navigating the challenges of his limited vision (he wears an artificial eye owing to complications from cancer) and being a social disaster, Ryder is seriously struggling--and he's not the only one. His grandfather, who's supposed to be taking care of Ryder while the boy's parents are away, talks to his decades-dead wife, lives as if he's still in the 1970s, and insists on calling the protagonist by his full name, Richie Ryder. Ryder's parents are immersed in work to the point of benign neglect. In this sequel to A Blind Guide to Stinkville, Vrabel injects just the right goofy mix of hormones and pain into Ryder's mounting rages, fervent emotional deflection techniques, and confusing romantic ups and downs and gives equal weight to the foibles and dramas of those around him. As any reader of middle grade fiction might expect, the title is a red herring--nobody's normal, and everybody's just trying their best. VERDICT A sweet, thoughtful, and funny read. Hand this to fans of Vrabel's previous novels and those who enjoy a heartfelt tale without the typical saccharine coating.--Katya Schapiro, Brooklyn Public Library
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2016 A wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/
Source Citation
Source Citation
MLA 9th Edition APA 7th Edition Chicago 17th Edition Harvard
Schapiro, Katya. "Vrabel, Beth. A Blind Guide to Normal." School Library Journal, vol. 62, no. 10, Oct. 2016, p. 101. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A466166928/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=712a4c51. Accessed 11 Sept. 2024.
QUOTED: "a realistic story with strong, recognizable characters that doesn't reduce cystic fibrosis to a tragedy."
Vrabel, Beth CALEB AND KIT Running Press Kids (Children's Fiction) $16.99 9, 12 ISBN: 978-0-7624-6223-0
A 12-year-old boy attempts to take charge of his own life. Caleb, a white boy born with cystic fibrosis, hates being one of only two kids his age in summer day camp. His mom refuses to let him stay home alone while she works, his irresponsible dad is off gallivanting with his new fiancee, and his perfect older brother has a summer internship--with, of all things, the local CF foundation. Caleb's longtime best friend is busy with football and baseball--sports Caleb can no longer play. When he meets a mystical girl (also white, as all the main characters seem to be) in the woods behind his home, he's intrigued; when she encourages him to escape the ordinary and to do whatever he wants, he goes along, skipping camp and spending days with her. But Kit is burdened with her own problems and secrets, and what Kit wants them to do is sometimes illegal or dangerous. Caleb's first-person narration allows readers to sympathize with the frustration and fear that cause him to act out, and it propels the plot to a credible, nuanced conclusion. The cystic fibrosis is well-handled--it affects every part of Caleb's life but never defines who he is. A realistic story with strong, recognizable characters that doesn't reduce cystic fibrosis to a tragedy. (Fiction. 8-12)
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2017 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
Source Citation
Source Citation
MLA 9th Edition APA 7th Edition Chicago 17th Edition Harvard
"Vrabel, Beth: CALEB AND KIT." Kirkus Reviews, 15 June 2017, p. NA. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A495427653/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=f270c5d4. Accessed 11 Sept. 2024.
QUOTED: "an original and unfailingly entertaining novel."
Caleb and Kit
Beth Vrabel
Running Press
c/o Perseus Book Group
250 W. 57th St., Suite 1500, New York, NY 10107
www.runningpress.com
9780762462230, $16.99, HC, 256pp, www.amazon.com
Twelve-year-old Caleb is shorter, frailer, and more protected than most kids his age. That's because he has cystic fibrosis, a diagnosis meaning lungs that fill with mucus and a shortened lifespan. Caleb tries not to let his disorder define him, but it can be hard with an overprotective mom and a perfect big brother. Then Caleb meets Kit--a vibrant, independent, and free girl, and his world changes instantly. Kit reads Caleb's palm and tells him they are destined to become friends. She calls birds down from the sky and turns every day into an adventure. Her magic is contagious, making Caleb question the rules and order in his life. But being Kit's friend means embracing deception and danger, and soon Caleb will have to decide if his friendship with Kit is really what's best for him--or her. An original and unfailingly entertaining novel for kids ages 8 to 12, "Caleb and Kit" showcases author Beth Vrabel's undeniably flair for originality and the deft creation of truly memorable characters. While unreservedly recommended for both elementary school and community library General Fiction collections for young readers, it should be noted that "Caleb and Kit" is also available in a digital book format (Kindle, $9.99). School and community librarians should also be aware that "Caleb and Kit" is also available as a complete and unabridged audio book (Blackstone Audio, 9781478994732, $69.99, CD).
Please Note: Illustration(s) are not available due to copyright restrictions.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2017 Midwest Book Review
http://www.midwestbookreview.com/cbw/index.htm
Source Citation
Source Citation
MLA 9th Edition APA 7th Edition Chicago 17th Edition Harvard
"Caleb and Kit." Children's Bookwatch, Dec. 2017, p. NA. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A522760081/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=18169ebd. Accessed 11 Sept. 2024.
QUOTED: "Hand to readers looking for a novel about both the magic and the pain of friendship."
VRABEL, Beth. Caleb and Kit. 256p. Running Pr. Sept. 2017. Tr $16.99. ISBN 9780762462230.
Gr 4-7--Constrained by his family's concern and his cystic fibrosis, a genetic disorder that primarily affects the lungs, 12-year-old Caleb longs to enact the bold declaration, "I do what I want." He skips out of his summer camp (all the better to avoid his cranky classmate, Shelly) to meet fae-like Kit in the woods. The magical world Kit draws him into at first feels like just the adventurous release from obligations and boredom that Caleb needs. However, he soon finds that he must face questions about how healthy their friendship is. Caleb is an exquisitely imperfect protagonist whose problematic decisions make him likable, particularly as he attempts to resolve his predicaments. The supporting characters are finely crafted as well, from Caleb's caring mom, who reawakens with the advent of a new boyfriend, and his highly talented, dutiful older brother to his absent dad and finicky stepmother. A beautiful metaphor of two trees delicately bending away from each other as they grow, in order to thrive, illuminates the future of Caleb and Kit's passionate friendship. Vrabel weaves all these elements into a story reminiscent of Katherine Paterson's classic Bridge to Terabithia that highlights day-today life with a common but devastating disease. VERDICT Hand to readers looking for a novel about both the magic and the pain of friendship. A solid purchase for most collections.--Erin Reilly-Sanders, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2017 A wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/
Source Citation
Source Citation
MLA 9th Edition APA 7th Edition Chicago 17th Edition Harvard
Reilly-Sanders, Erin. "Vrabel, Beth. Caleb and Kit." School Library Journal, vol. 63, no. 6, 1 June 2017, pp. 97+. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A493916090/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=2fae7876. Accessed 11 Sept. 2024.
Vrabel, Beth CAMP DORK Sky Pony Press (Children's Fiction) $16.99 5, 3 ISBN: 978-1-63450-181-1
Most of the titular gang from Pack of Dorks (2014) is off to spend two weeks at seriously-roughing-it-style Camp Paleo. Sadly, Lucy's not-a-boyfriend, Sam, is going to gymnastics camp instead. That's just the beginning of the bad news. Camp Paleo is hot, buggy, and fraught with emotional peril, as her friends behave in strange, inexplicable new ways. Most troubling is how April, previously, well, dorky, has now entirely "reinvented" herself and also has firmly bonded with the very annoying and unpleasant Kira. As feisty Lucy attempts to steer her friends into what she sees as the right directions for each, every matchmaking strategy backfires until she's alienated almost every camper she cares about. Just as problematic is the fact that valuable personal possessions are going missing, and other campers are starting to think Lucy might be the thief. With good humor, Vrabel explores the pitfalls of emerging preteenhood. Not everyone gets there at the same time, leading to endless potential for humiliation, embarrassment, and, in the case of Sam and Lucy, awkwardness. Although not as clever and satisfying as the dorks' multilayered first outing, this quick read nonetheless effectively delves into interpersonal pitfalls that will be familiar to most older grade schoolers, and Lucy's developing insight may even provide a few hints for staying on the right path. Honest, funny, and entertaining. (Fiction. 8-12)
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2016 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
Source Citation
Source Citation
MLA 9th Edition APA 7th Edition Chicago 17th Edition Harvard
"Vrabel, Beth: CAMP DORK." Kirkus Reviews, 15 Mar. 2016, p. NA. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A446003811/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=d31a7cdf. Accessed 11 Sept. 2024.
Vrabel, Beth BRINGING ME BACK Sky Pony Press (Children's Fiction) $16.99 2, 6 ISBN: 978-1-5107-2527-0
A boy, desperate and broken, and a young bear with its head caught in a bucket: Vrabel (Pack of Dorks, 2016, etc.) sensitively interweaves these two disparate plotlines.
Noah only gradually reveals the depth and breadth of his issues. His mom's in jail for a third drunken driving offense. He's living with her most recent boyfriend but lacks faith that any adult, even steadfast Jeff, can be relied upon. A year ago, right after his mom's arrest, Noah tackled a mentally disabled kid on his own football team, his brutality leading to the league's revoking their championship and barring the team altogether. And then there was the shoplifting incident that followed. Now it seems like everyone hates Noah--even teachers and school administrators, who disparage him and view him as a hopeless case. The only exception is Rina, a smart, unpopular classmate who remembers who Noah once was and understands both his journey to despair and a possible path to redemption. Together they launch a campaign to save the bear, and along the way, they save Noah, too. The characters' races aren't revealed and therefore imply the white default. Noah's first-person narration is spot-on, age appropriate and full of anger with brief flashes of insight. The trope is well-worked; this effort rises above the pack, believable and ultimately uplifting.
Engrossing, satisfying, and compassionate. (Fiction. 11-14)
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2018 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
Source Citation
Source Citation
MLA 9th Edition APA 7th Edition Chicago 17th Edition Harvard
"Vrabel, Beth: BRINGING ME BACK." Kirkus Reviews, 15 Jan. 2018, p. NA. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A522643016/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=2e6932f2. Accessed 11 Sept. 2024.
Vrabel, Beth SUPER DORKS Sky Pony Press (Children's Fiction) $16.99 5, 8 ISBN: 978-1-5107-3144-8
The pack of dorks, a group of unpopular fifth-graders who have banded together, are back for a third outing.
Lucy, fighting against impending puberty, sees her small group of friends changing. April has restyled her frizzy hair and enrolled in a magnet school where she can leave her unfortunate reputation behind. Sam, while saving toddler twins from getting hit by a car, is badly injured. He's a hero--a status narrator Lucy deeply envies--but his promising gymnastics career is over, and he's filled with anger that too often is turned on Lucy. Amanda admits that she's never known her mother, a traveling fortuneteller in a Renaissance fair, but Lucy finds a way to share her own. Sheldon is on a mission, rejected by many of his classmates, to save the rare turtles that are hatching in the playground mulch. Guided by an outstanding teacher, Lucy decides to run for class president, mostly just to make her own discerning point of view heard, despite relentless, realistic harassment from popular boy Tom, also a candidate. Lucy's heartfelt voice, as she develops a growing understanding--and acceptance--of herself and her friends, is believable and moving, returning to the wisdom and deep emotional resonance that elevated to excellence the first of this series. The book adheres to the white default.
A first-rate exploration of the quiet heroism that keeps unpopular kids moving ahead toward a happier future. (Fiction. 9-12)
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2018 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
Source Citation
Source Citation
MLA 9th Edition APA 7th Edition Chicago 17th Edition Harvard
"Vrabel, Beth: SUPER DORKS." Kirkus Reviews, 15 Apr. 2018, p. NA. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A534375153/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=957d44a0. Accessed 11 Sept. 2024.
QUOTED: "a five-problem novel that entertains and provides some life lessons."
VRABEL, Beth. The Reckless Club. 256p. Running Pr. Oct. 2018. Tr $16.99. ISBN 9780762490400.
Gr 5-7--In this middle school take on The Breakfast Club, five barely acquainted students are serving detention, each for a last-day-of-school transgression none of the others nor readers know about, by helping out at a nursing home on the last day of summer vacation before they enter high school. Each is assigned to an elderly resident and, in alternating chapters, their personalities and issues are revealed along with those of their assignees, even as they create mayhem, Keystone-cops fashion, by targeting and pursuing a nurse they suspect of stealing. Further, they are charged with creating and presenting a skit and writing an essay on what they learned, a tall order for one day. Chapter headings and physical descriptions set the characters up as types: Jason, "The Nobody"; Rex, "The Rebel"; Lilith, "The Drama Queen"; Wes, "The Flirt" and Ally, "The Athlete." Much of the narrative reads like stage direction, but personalities and setting are sufficiently authentic. Readers will recognize and identify with some of the students' situations and will be interested to learn just what wrongdoing each is guilty of and what their principal had in mind by bringing them together for such an unusual "punishment." VERDICT A five-problem novel that entertains and provides some life lessons.--Marie Orlando, formerly at Suffolk Cooperative Library System, Bellport, NY
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2018 A wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/
Source Citation
Source Citation
MLA 9th Edition APA 7th Edition Chicago 17th Edition Harvard
Orlando, Marie. "VRABEL, Beth. The Reckless Club." School Library Journal, vol. 64, no. 9, Sept. 2018, pp. 111+. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A553280084/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=00b194b9. Accessed 11 Sept. 2024.
Vrabel, Beth THE RECKLESS CLUB Running Press (Children's Fiction) $16.99 10, 2 ISBN: 978-0-7624-9040-0
Vrabel's latest middle-grade novel explicitly remixes John Hughes' iconic 1985 movie, The Breakfast Club, for the Instagram generation.
Five eighth-graders report for all-day detention for pranks they committed on the last day of middle school. Each comes from a different clique: Jason, an artistic white "Nobody"; Lilith, a talented Indian-American "Drama Queen"; Rex, an emo white "Rebel"; Wes, a charismatic African-American "Flirt"; and Ally, a high-achieving white "Athlete." They gather at an assisted-living home, where their strict principal introduces them to his sister, who runs the facility. The students are then each paired with a resident at the home, and they are also assigned an essay, to be completed by the end of the day. As in the film, these five teenagers who believe they have nothing in common bond over the course of the day as they open up and reveal their struggles: divorce, poverty, racism, bullying. And, similar to the film, the novel ends with a jointly written essay ("But after today, we just see each other. And we're going to change things, make them better, starting now") signed "The Reckless Club." The third-person narration mostly alternates among Jason, Lilith, and Wes, with Ally's and Rex's perspectives much later. The novel is tender, and it goes where Hughes' film never could have with its multicultural cast, but it's slow to start and cannot escape a preachy feel as the kids open up.
Mostly accomplishes its feel-good goals. (Fiction. 10-14)
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2018 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
Source Citation
Source Citation
MLA 9th Edition APA 7th Edition Chicago 17th Edition Harvard
"Vrabel, Beth: THE RECKLESS CLUB." Kirkus Reviews, 1 Aug. 2018, p. NA. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A548137832/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=f50a5550. Accessed 11 Sept. 2024.
QUOTED: "a unique and thoroughly entertaining read by an author with a genuine flair for narrative storytelling."
The Reckless Club
Beth Vrabel
Running Press Kids
c/o Perseus Book Group
250 W. 57th St., Suite 1500, New York, NY 10107
www.runningpress.com
9780762490400, $16.99, HC, 256pp, www.amazon.com
On the last day of middle school, five kids who couldn't be more different commit separate pranks, each sure they won't be caught and they can't get in trouble. They're wrong. As punishment, they each have to volunteer one beautiful summer day-the last one before school-at Northbrook Retirement and Assisted Living Home, where they'll push creamed carrots into toothless mouths, perform the world's most pathetic skit in front of residents who won't remember it anyway, hold gnarled hands of peach fuzzed old ladies who relentlessly push hard candies, and somehow forge a bond with each other that has nothing to do with what they've done and everything to do with who they're becoming. All the action takes place in the course of this one day, with each individual chapter being one hour of that day, as the five kids reveal what they've done, why they did it, and what they're going to do now. A unique and thoroughly entertaining read by an author with a genuine flair for narrative storytelling, Beth Vrabel's "The Reckless Club" is very highly recommended for school and community library General Fiction collections for young readers ages 10 to 14. It should be noted for personal reading lists that "The Reckless Club" is also available in a digital book format (Kindle, $9.99).
Please Note: Illustration(s) are not available due to copyright restrictions.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2018 Midwest Book Review
http://www.midwestbookreview.com/cbw/index.htm
Source Citation
Source Citation
MLA 9th Edition APA 7th Edition Chicago 17th Edition Harvard
Vrabel, Beth. "The Reckless Club." Children's Bookwatch, Oct. 2018, p. NA. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A562049972/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=f6f66d47. Accessed 11 Sept. 2024.
QUOTED: "Painful though they are, Pipi's trials neatly convey an authentic flavor of the commonplace agonies of middle school."
Vrabel, Beth THE HUMILIATIONS OF PIPI MCGEE Running Press Kids (Children's Fiction) $16.99 9, 17 ISBN: 978-0-7624-9339-5
Humiliations? Eighth grader Pipi has suffered through almost any that you could (cringingly) imagine. But now she's resolved to find redemption--or revenge.
From drawing her kindergarten self as a strip of bacon with breasts (a picture later exhibited to the entire eighth grade) to wetting her pants as a fourth grader, waxing off one eyebrow as a sixth grader, and having her period overflow into her white pants (and desk chair) in seventh grade, Pipi's been there and done that. She's also been the pariah of her class forever. Mean girl Kara has frequently stage-managed her misery--one way or another. Now Pipi's made a list of people she's going to humiliate. Unfortunately, her narrow focus on revenge threatens her few friendships, particularly with BFF Tasha and with Ricky, who, it turns out, has admired her all along. When Pipi finds that Kara's joined-at-the-hip cousin, Sarah, is actually quite a nice girl who's dealing with coming into her own despite Kara's ire, Pipi finally begins to develop a believable maturity. The suspense is nicely sustained, and the characters, if a bit archetypal, are nonetheless plausible enough. Tasha presents black while Pipi and most of the rest of the cast adhere to the white default.
Painful though they are, Pipi's trials neatly convey an authentic flavor of the commonplace agonies of middle school. (Fiction. 10-12)
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2019 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
Source Citation
Source Citation
MLA 9th Edition APA 7th Edition Chicago 17th Edition Harvard
"Vrabel, Beth: THE HUMILIATIONS OF PIPI MCGEE." Kirkus Reviews, 1 June 2019, p. NA. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A587054362/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=755d301b. Accessed 11 Sept. 2024.
QUOTED: "realistic, humorous fiction."
VRABEL, Beth. The Humiliations of Pipi McGee. illus. by Billy Yong. 384p. Perseus/Running Pr. Sept. 2019. Tr $16.99. ISBN 9780762493395.
Gr 5-7--Eighth grader Penelope (Pipi) McGee seems to be cursed. In kindergarten, she drew a portrait of herself as a piece of bacon with breasts, and in fourth grade she peed her pants on a field trip (earning the nickname Pee-Pee). Each year holds embarrassing memories for Pipi (don't even mention seventh grade; Pipi doesn't talk about that year ever). Now as an eighth grader, Penelope hatches a plan to redeem herself from her grade school humiliations. She starts by volunteering in a kindergarten classroom. Pipi immediately gravitates to kindergartner Piper, who calls to mind a young Pipi. When Pipi keeps Piper from drawing a potentially embarrassing object, Pipi checks kindergarten off her Redemption List. Things seem to be smooth sailing for Penelope; she's able to check off one grade at a time from her list. She even seems to get more popular this year, with cool kids Sarah and Jackson inviting her to join their poetry club and be their friend. Then there's Kara Samson--Penelope's archenemy. She is the one who locked Pipi out of the bathroom, causing her to pee herself in fourth grade. Pip's revenge scheme ends up turning against her, and she realizes that her redemption plan has gone a bit astray. Pipi's character development is realistic, though the story drags at times and readers may struggle to stay engaged. VERDICT Recommended where there is demand for realistic, humorous fiction centered on girls coming of age.--Jill Baetiong, Bloomingdale Public Library, IL
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2019 A wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/
Source Citation
Source Citation
MLA 9th Edition APA 7th Edition Chicago 17th Edition Harvard
Baetiong, Jill. "VRABEL, Beth. The Humiliations of Pipi McGee." School Library Journal, vol. 65, no. 8, Sept. 2019, pp. 119+. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A597859040/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=5a2b8de7. Accessed 11 Sept. 2024.
QUOTED: "heartwarming."
The Newspaper Club (The Newspaper Club #1)
Beth Vrabel. Running Press Kids, $16.99 (208p) ISBN 978-0-7624-9685-3
After her father takes a marketing job in Asia and the city newspaper employing her journalist parents folds, 11-year-old Nellie and her mother move to smalltown Maine, much to Nellie's dismay. Even worse, they take up residence next door to her mom's best friend and daughter, Min; while gifted, bossy Nellie has always struggled to bond with her peers, she's not interested in hanging out with Min, who believes the two are fast friends. When the town park is closed after a series of thefts and incidents, and the underresourced local newspaper won't cover the story, determined Nellie starts her own outlet, The Cub Report, to launch an investigation. Together, the paper's diverse team--including Thorn, who carries around a "bag of smells," and Min--look into the incidents. En route to the first issue, Nellie learns valuable and well-wrought lessons about cooperation, letting people in, and navigating new circumstances. In this heartwarming series kick-off, Vrabel (The Humiliations of Pipi McGee) offers journalistic hints while shining a light on the plight of the newspaper industry, and prickly Nellie's grudging willingness to embrace others over the course of the story is earnestly portrayed. Ages 8-12. Agent: Nicole Rescinitti, the Seymour Agency. (Mar.)
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2020 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Source Citation
Source Citation
MLA 9th Edition APA 7th Edition Chicago 17th Edition Harvard
"The Newspaper Club (The Newspaper Club #1)." Publishers Weekly, vol. 267, no. 3, 20 Jan. 2020, p. 70. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A613203882/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=9c82ed3e. Accessed 11 Sept. 2024.
QUOTED: "a captivating and touching story that addresses issues in news media and life effortlessly, while engaging readers with a fast-paced mystery."
VRABEL, Beth. The Newspaper Club. illus. by Paula Franco. 208p. (Newspaper Club: Bk. 1). Running Pr. Mar. 2020. Tr $16.99. ISBN 9780762496853.
Gr 4-6--Nellie Murrow spent the first 11 years of her life surrounded by the bustling world of journalism and newsrooms. But when the newspaper both her parents worked for folds, Nellie finds herself in the last place she ever imagined--the tiny town of Bear Creek, where nothing interesting ever happens. To make matters worse, her mom has ensconced herself in the attic to write a romance novel and her dad has gone to Asia, leaving Nellie to her own devices. All she really wants to do is talk to her dad, but instead she is saddled with an assigned and quite babyish "best friend" who follows her everywhere. When strange reports of vandalism and mischief are linked to the only place Nellie can talk to her dad, it is up to the kids in town to cover the story. But will they be able to figure out what is going on? And will socially awkward Nellie be able to make friends with people her own age? This refreshingly poignant story deftly weaves topics such as grieving, making friends, and moving with highly relevant discussions about bias and opinion in journalism. It is inspiring and informative for young people who are interested in the craft of news reporting, without being overly technical. Readers will be as eager as Nellie to unearth the truth and will discover a deeper understanding of humanity along the way. VERDICT A captivating and touching story that addresses issues in news media and life effortlessly, while engaging readers with a fast-paced mystery.--Emily Beasley, Omaha Public Schools
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2020 A wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/
Source Citation
Source Citation
MLA 9th Edition APA 7th Edition Chicago 17th Edition Harvard
Beasley, Emily. "VRABEL, Beth. The Newspaper Club." School Library Journal, vol. 66, no. 3, Mar. 2020, pp. 109+. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A616314248/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=ed9cfce3. Accessed 11 Sept. 2024.
QUOTED: "Nellie's voice is frank and often funny—and always full of information about newspapers."
Vrabel, Beth THE NEWSPAPER CLUB Running Press (Children's Fiction) $16.99 3, 10 ISBN: 978-0-7624-9685-3
Eleven-year-old Nellie's investigative reporting leads her to solve a mystery, start a newspaper, and learn key lessons about growing up.
Nellie's voice is frank and often funny--and always full of information about newspapers. She tells readers of the first meeting of her newspaper club and then says, "But maybe I'm burying the lede…what Dad calls it when a reporter puts the most interesting part…in the middle or toward the end." (This and other journalism vocabulary is formally defined in a closing glossary.) She backtracks to earlier that summer, when she and her mother were newly moved into a house next to her mother's best friend in rural Bear Creek, Maine. Nellie explains that the newspaper that employed both of her parents in "the city" had folded soon after her father left for business in Asia. When Bear Creek Park gets closed due to mysterious, petty crimes, Nellie feels compelled to investigate. She feels closest to her dad when on the park's swings, and she is more comfortable interviewing adults than befriending peers. Getting to know a plethora of characters through Nellie's eyes is as much fun as watching Nellie blossom. Although astute readers will have guessed the park's vandalizers, they are rewarded by observing Nellie's fact-checking process. A late revelation about Nellie's father does not significantly detract from this fully realized story of a young girl adjusting admirably to new circumstances. Nellie and her mother present white; secondary characters are diverse.
Nellie Bly's contemporary namesake does her proud. (Fiction. 8-12)
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2019 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
Source Citation
Source Citation
MLA 9th Edition APA 7th Edition Chicago 17th Edition Harvard
"Vrabel, Beth: THE NEWSPAPER CLUB." Kirkus Reviews, 15 Dec. 2019, p. NA. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A608364626/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=f8f6416f. Accessed 11 Sept. 2024.
QUOTED: "This is an outstanding book, and Trixy's struggles will resonate with readers."
VRABEL, Beth. To Tell You the Truth. 272p. Atheneum. Jun. 2021. Tr $17.99. ISBN 9781534478596.
Gr 3-7-Vrabel's book of adventure and redemption beautifully intertwines stories from two generations. Trixy heard her last story from her grandmother just before the car accident that took her life and left Trixy scarred. Since the accident, Trixy's friendships, family, and schoolwork have been suffering. To improve her grades, Trixy has to write five stories, and she vividly retells her grandmother's wild tales to skeptical ears. To prove her stories are true, Trixy runs away with her best friend, Raymond, to retrace her grandmother's childhood memories. While running away has its problems, it mends her friendship, begins to heal her family, and proves that all of the stories were true. This is an outstanding book, and Trixy's struggles will resonate with readers. The suspense of Trixy's dilemmas and adventures, along with the excitement within her grandmother's stories, make this a page turner. Disparate story lines weave a multidimensional tale that ties together perfectly. Trixy's and her grandmother's voices will remind readers of Louisiana from Kate DiCamillo's Louisiana's Way Home, echoing a similarly fearless, independent, and spunky attitude. VERDICT Featuring a determined protagonist, this evocative tale of truth and healing is a must-purchase for all libraries.--Kate Rao, Alhambra Civic Center Lib., CA
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2021 A wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/
Source Citation
Source Citation
MLA 9th Edition APA 7th Edition Chicago 17th Edition Harvard
Rao, Kate. "VRABEL, Beth. To Tell You the Truth." School Library Journal, vol. 67, no. 6, June 2021, pp. 61+. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A663599654/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=462a532b. Accessed 11 Sept. 2024.
QUOTED: "This cathartic narrative nimbly explores love, grief, revival, and what makes a tale true."
Beth Vrabel. Atheneum, $17.99 (272p) ISBN 978-1-5344-7859-6
Ever since her grandmother Dolcie B. Jacobs died in a car accident six months before the events of this book begin, fourth grader Trixy Mae Williams has struggled with school as her parents disappear into their own grief. Internalizing Gran's rich oral storytelling, Trixy puts the tales to paper, despite Gran's explicit instruction not to share them, and turns them in as her own--only to get punished for fibbing, as her teacher urges Trixy to use her natural storytelling gift to write "true" stories. When Trixy's best friend Raymond's father, a traveling musician, prepares to embark on a Tennessee-wide tour that auspiciously follows Gran's pre-death plans, Trixy is desperate to go to "places like Memphis, where the music comes from every corner, draping like a blanket of sound to tuck in the town," despite the disheartening roadblocks that materialize. Vrabel (the Newspaper Club series) offers a sympathetic majority white cast against a rich Tennessee setting; employing Trixy's lively Southern voice and evocative descriptions to dig through her bramble of conflicting emotions, this cathartic narrative nimbly explores love, grief, revival, and what makes a tale true. Ages 8-12.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2021 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Source Citation
Source Citation
MLA 9th Edition APA 7th Edition Chicago 17th Edition Harvard
"To Tell You the Truth." Publishers Weekly, vol. 268, no. 48, 24 Nov. 2021, p. 92. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A686559739/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=8e81bc22. Accessed 11 Sept. 2024.
QUOTED: "poignant and uplifting."
Vrabel, Beth TO TELL YOU THE TRUTH Atheneum (Children's None) $17.99 6, 8 ISBN: 978-1-5344-7859-6
Stories, whether they are sad or happy—or both—reveal truths that make a difference and that can heal.
Nothing illustrates this better than the stories about her childhood that Gran whispered into Trixy’s ears, right up until her tragic death. Trixy feels better as she shares Gran’s stories at school, but no one, not even her mother, believes they are true. Mama resents that Gran didn’t talk about her past with her and struggles with her grief. Determined Trixy sets out to uncover the truth. She stows away on a road trip that her friend Raymond Crickett and his sister are taking with their dad’s band. As it happens, many of the stops are places in Tennessee that Gran had outlined as tour stops for Mr. Crickett years before. Trixy narrates with spirit and insight, describing the present-day events and interspersing them with Gran’s colorful stories about the past. Sure enough, Gran’s tales provide a path to reunion and reconciliation. As the richly drawn characters, past and present, are introduced, their storylines and their lives become interwoven. Themes of love, abandonment, hardship, and triumph are explored. Difficult topics and dramatic revelations are softened by the leisurely pace and the humorous interactions between headstrong Trixy and sensible, sensitive Raymond. Most satisfying of all is that Gran’s tales prepare Trixy for her own future. Main characters default to White.
Poignant and uplifting. (Fiction. 8-12)
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2021 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
Source Citation
Source Citation
MLA 9th Edition APA 7th Edition Chicago 17th Edition Harvard
"Vrabel, Beth: TO TELL YOU THE TRUTH." Kirkus Reviews, 1 May 2021, p. NA. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A659924883/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=e46c0a20. Accessed 11 Sept. 2024.
Vrabel, Beth LIES I TELL MYSELF Atheneum (Children's None) $17.99 6, 21 ISBN: 978-1-66590-088-1
Eleven-year-old Raymond gains what his mother lacks: self-knowledge and roots.
When Raymond is sent to spend the summer with his grandparents in Maine, he's sure it's punishment for the trouble he and best friend Trixy caused during his dad's last music tour. Raymond doesn't remember his mother Abigail's parents, probably because Abigail abandoned Raymond, his sister, and dad years ago. His grandparents sure don't know Raymond: They call him "backward" and encourage him to go biking, swimming--make friends! Raymond doesn't know how to do any of those things, but he's determined to learn. Despite his doubts and discomfort, Raymond is genuine and funny in all his interactions. The colorful cast of mostly White characters is well drawn, as is the small town of Winter's Peak. Raymond slowly realizes he's making connections with people of all ages, plus one chicken, and that each individual's story is becoming intertwined with his own. He draws on them all--his experiences and theirs--when Abigail shows up for an unannounced, self-serving visit to her parents. Raymond thinks he tells himself lies, but he bravely confronts the truth about Abigail: She cannot love him the way he deserves to be loved. It's a gut punch made bearable because Raymond has developed the core strength and friendships to help him through. This heartfelt, emotionally insightful companion to To Tell You the Truth (2021) is accessible to readers unfamiliar with the previous book.
Proof positive that an open heart can overcome hurt. (Fiction. 8-12)
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2022 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
Source Citation
Source Citation
MLA 9th Edition APA 7th Edition Chicago 17th Edition Harvard
"Vrabel, Beth: LIES I TELL MYSELF." Kirkus Reviews, 1 May 2022, p. NA. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A701896605/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=b618a22b. Accessed 11 Sept. 2024.
Vrabel, Beth WHEN GIANTS BURN Atheneum (Children's None) $17.99 6, 13 ISBN: 9781665918626
As they experience growing pains and family problems, loner middle school students in small-town Utah unknowingly support one another on unexpected journeys of self-discovery.
Eleven-year-old Gerty is proud. She knows exactly what she wants and has the grit to get it. She seeks refuge from her survivalist parents in her grandmother Nanny Pat's barn, where she secretly builds an ultralight and dreams of one day being in the Civil Air Patrol. Gerty shares lunches in the school counselor's office twice a week with fellow new student Hayes; both of them need support with social skills. While he struggles with rebuilding a relationship with his ex-con mother and suffers from severe self-doubt, Hayes has a strong inner fire that is one spark from igniting. When turmoil ensues in each of their home lives, Gerty and Hayes seek one another's company. Vibrant depictions of the characters' experiences paired with witty dialogue immerse readers in the main characters' lives. Their heart-wrenching backstories and realistic experiences evoke a deep level of empathy. With chapters purposely shifting from character to character, readers slowly but satisfyingly become part of their lives and friendship and cannot help but root for them until the very end. Main characters are cued White; the school counselor is coded Black.
A heartwarming read with a powerful message: The lonely and jaded can heal with the love of an empathetic friend. (Fiction. 8-12)
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2023 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
Source Citation
Source Citation
MLA 9th Edition APA 7th Edition Chicago 17th Edition Harvard
"Vrabel, Beth: WHEN GIANTS BURN." Kirkus Reviews, 1 May 2023, p. NA. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A747342378/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=c9a9b38e. Accessed 11 Sept. 2024.
Vrabel, Beth PERRY HOMER RUINS EVERYTHING Atheneum (Children's None) $17.99 6, 18 ISBN: 9781665918640
The summer after eighth grade, Perry Homer is focused on entering a prep school where he can turn over a new leaf.
Perry learned about "the rush" from his father--it's that feeling that you're above the rules. From Uncle Manny he learned to maximize loopholes and, from his mom, to watch for tells. But Perry longs to leave his con artist family behind, and with the help of a supportive teacher, he sets his sights on winning a scholarship to New York's Ithaca School for Scholars, where he can be "Good Perry" from now on. Unfortunately, the Homer family must pull a few more swindles to get back home to Pittsburgh from their summer vacation, and Perry, desperate to get back in time for the interview, is quickly drawn in. A pawnshop deception and a hotel room scam keep Perry engaged in the family chaos. While the Homers are lying low at a wildcat sanctuary, Perry observes his family members finding their own measures of honest contentment. Yet he feels empty, so he sets about apologizing to the people he's wronged. As summer ends, Perry takes off for a last-ditch chance at the scholarship interview. The Homers are antihero protagonists, and even well-intentioned Perry's actions can seem questionable. Serious themes sometimes feel awkwardly dropped in amid the over-the-top antics, although they do support Perry's growth. Most main characters are cued white.
An amusing story that asks readers to engage with moral gray areas. (Fiction. 8-12)
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2024 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
Source Citation
Source Citation
MLA 9th Edition APA 7th Edition Chicago 17th Edition Harvard
"Vrabel, Beth: PERRY HOMER RUINS EVERYTHING." Kirkus Reviews, 15 Apr. 2024, p. NA. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A789814787/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=9978f67c. Accessed 11 Sept. 2024.