Each Tiny Spark

Juvenile fiction 

     Emilia, protagonist of Pablo Cartaya's Each Tiny Spark, has a lot going on in her life.

     For one thing, because of ADHD, she has trouble concentrating in school.  Her mom helps her organize her school week and keep track of stuff like homework and tests.  As the summer begins her mom is about to leave for a week long conference.

     That night Emilia's father arrives home from his latest deployment.  A marine, he's been coming and going since she was four.  This time he seems distant and reclusive, exploding every time she tries to find out why he never responded to the thirty videos she sent him.

     But not all the drama is in Emilia's family.  The school board in her town is about to vote on whether their school should take in students from one of its poorer neighborhood's overcrowded ones.  It's a very explosive and divisive issue with many people thinking that Park View students will be a bad influence on their own children.  The conflict has filtered down to the middle school.  Emilia's best friends are taking opposing stands.

     Each Tiny Spark is an engaging narrative about coming of age in a complex environment.

On a purrrsonal note:  we've put four more days on organizing Clean Sweep and also playing around, having fun.  Tomorrow at 11:00 the sale starts and goes until 5:00.  Then Saturday it runs from 8:00 to noon.  I sure hope we sell a lot of stuff!  (Jules)

They will.  They always do.  (Tobago)

A great big shout out goes out to the '23 Clean Sweep crew!

Tobago and Jules Hathaway 

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