Matthew knows that this summer is going to be the worst ever. His best friend Kyle is gone, his younger brother Mark has surpassed him in size and athletic ability, and his mother is pregnant for the fifth time.

The eldest home-schooled son of a preacher, Matthew plans to bury himself in books about the speed of light and Einstein's Theory of Relativity to see if he can prove his own theory about the dilation of time.

Instead, he befriends Dinah, a homeless teenager seeking refuge at the library.

Although from very different backgrounds, Matthew and Dinah come to realize that they have a great deal in common--their love for music and for cans of olives and potato chips found in a supermarket dumpster that are just past the sell-by date... and maybe even for each other.

Matthew struggles with his feelings for his own family as he helps Dinah avoid Child Welfare. And in the process, Dinah helps him discover that even the smallest acts of kindness can make a very big difference.

Coming May, 2010!

 

The Author

Laurie Gray is a Deputy Prosecuting Attorney in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and has served as an author and lecturer for the National Symposium on Child Abuse. Laurie is the founder of Socratic Parenting, LLC (www.SocraticParenting.com), the co-creator of Token of Change™ (www.TokenofChange.com) and a consultant for Sophie’s Café (www.SophiesCafe.org). Summer Sanctuary is her first young adult novel.

For more about Laurie Gray, go to socraticparenting

Excerpt

Dinah broke the silence. "Why are you being so nice to me?" she asked. She was combing her fingers through the grass and propellers, watching intently as the blades bounced right back up, twirling the propellers in the air.

I didn't know what to say. I couldn't very well tell her that I watched her dig my sandwich out of the trash yesterday, and I was just dying of curiosity.

"You just seem different-more interesting than most of the people I see around here." I leaned back on my elbows and stretched my feet out in front of me. "Why did you agree to have lunch with me?"

"I was hungry," she said simply, rising to her feet and wiping her hands on the back of her jean shorts. She walked around the maple tree, hugging it with one arm as she walked. Then she turned around and walked the other way, hugging the tree with her other arm. She stopped right in front of me. I had to look straight up to see her face. "You seem different, too," she admitted. "In a good way." She sat down and relaxed a little, leaning back against the tree.

"Can you keep a secret?" she asked.

I hesitated. How many times had my parents talked to me about good secrets and bad secrets? Could I promise to keep a secret without knowing what kind of a secret it was? "I can keep a secret that needs to be kept."

"I mean it, Matthew." She sat forward, hugging her knees. "If I tell you something, you have to promise not to tell anyone." Just the way she said it I could tell it was a really serious secret.

"I promise," I said, knowing that I would keep Dinah's secret no matter what, and hoping I wouldn't regret it.

Reviews

What a big-hearted story, told with affection and humor. I loved spending time with Matthew and his family and with Dinah, the girl who looks in from outside. Like Dinah, young readers will find a place of welcome and comfort, a true sanctuary, in the pages of this book. Like Matthew, they’ll discover something important about friendship and independence.

--Helen Frost, Printz Honor Award-winning author of Keesha’s House.

Summer Sanctuary exudes a strong voice for the two central characters . . . they learn what it means to measure a person’s worth not based on circumstances, but on the will to survive. Gray has captured the essence of what it means to be a young teen—wanting to grow as an individual while needing the security of a home and loving family. Summer Sanctuary can help guide teens through the difficult transition between childhood and becoming adults.”

--Kayleen Reusser, author of Taylor Swift—a Blue Banner Biography

Coming March, 2010!

 

Can a spirit from the past come back to help us solve a problem in the present?

Twelve-year-old Marcie Horton is not looking forward to spending a lonely and boring summer at her grandparents' lake cottage.  That is, until the woods near their home are threatened with development by the wealthy president of the university where her parents teach.

Marcie is guided by the spirit of an Indian girl as she seeks to unlock the secrets of the past in her quest to save the centuries-old forest from development.  Her effort is complicated by her growing friendship with the university president's popular daughter and the annual sailboat race, in which Marcie finds herself competing on the team of the wealthy summer house owners against the local residents.

Marcie's success hinges on whether she can unravel the cryptic messages she receives in her dreams and visions from the mysterious spirit of the Indian girl, before the woods—and perhaps something much more important—are lost forever.

 Buy at these Bookstores!

The Author

Tracy Richardson wasn’t always a writer, but she was always a reader. When her children started reading she rediscovered all the books she loved as a child and many new titles to enjoy. She found herself developing stories of her own that she wanted to share and began writing novels for children. Images from her childhood growing up on Lake Michigan and the landscape of Indiana feature prominently in her novels, and sometimes bits and pieces of actual people and events – much to her childrens’ delight and sometimes dismay! Tracy has a BS in Biology from Indiana University and has worked in a hospital microbiology laboratory, for a health insurance company and as a financial advisor. She lives in the suburbs of Indianapolis with her husband and two children and their Jack Russell terrier, Ernie.

For more about Tracy Richardson, go to tracyrichardson.wordpress

Excerpt

The bike moves slowly at first, then rapidly picks up speed. The closer she gets to the bottom, the faster she goes. Marcie feels the wind whipping past her face and tugging at her clothes. She loves this feeling of freedom. It feels like flying, she thinks, and she realizes that her hands are no longer grasping the handle bars and her feet aren’t touching the pedals. She can’t feel the bike beneath her—she’s soaring through the air—she is flying! She tentatively stretches out her arms and the wind lifts her up to the level of the treetops. Her bike is below, still speeding down the hill, and she is gliding high above it all. It feels so natural and effortless. She tries moving to the left and to the right by shifting her body and for a few moments she just enjoys the feeling of flying. Then she lowers her arms, which causes her to slowly descend back to her bike. Placing her hands on the handles and her feet on the pedals she continues the rest of the way down the hill on her bike. Just before the speed gets out of control—just before she gets afraid—Marcie puts on the brakes and comes to a stop. Turning to look back up the hill, she thinks, did that really happen? Did I just fly? It was only for a few moments, but she definitely felt herself flying. How could it possibly be real, though? She has dreamed of flying before, but nothing as real as this. It must have been some kind of daydream.

The ride down the hill and the sensation of flying has left her a little breathless and shaky, so she walks her bike the rest of the way over to the bike racks. She pulls up next to Eric as he locks his bike to the rack and slides her bike into the next space. She wants to ask him if he saw her flying, but doesn’t know how to bring it up without sounding weird. Saying, ‘By the way, Eric, did you see me flying down the hill just a minute ago’ is just too strange. He wouldn’t believe her if she told him what happened anyway. She’s not really sure if she believes it herself…

Reviews

I’ve been blessed in these past few weeks with young adult books that have taken me to places I have absolutely not wanted to come back from. This book will be one that will sit on my shelf for a very long time, and I will pass along to my daughter, her daughter, etc.

I loved this book. The writer really delved into all the areas of teenage angst. From the gut-wrenching scenes of peer-pressure to the maximum, when poor Marcie has to find a way to fit into a world that she doesn’t understand – and, doesn’t even like – to the effects that big business has on nature conservancy and the preservation of the past – the author has found a way to focus on major issues in an absolutely fun and exciting way.

I look forward to reading a lot more in the future from this writer.

– Amy Lignor, Bookpleasures

Twilight got your tween reading, which is great. But let’s be honest here, it isn’t the best form of literature available out there. And while your tween might not be ready (or willing) to give Shakespeare a try at this point in her life, parents can continue feeding this new-found interest for reading by picking up more books that are not only geared at tweens, but are well written, have an intriguing plot and whose main character is relatable to them.

Tracy Richardson’s Indian Summer is exactly that.

Marcie is a good kid, albeit not a perfect one, a reflection of the family that raised her. While a little unreal in a world filled with horror stories about broken families and harsh intra-family disputes, it’s a reminder of what families should be – strong, loving, loyal yet imperfect.

But this is what makes this book particularly interesting, and gives it the strong potential of touching a chord in tweens: it’s realistic while having a touch of the fantastic (i.e. Marcie’s visions).

Indian Summer is also an interesting first glance and timid exploration of inter-class dynamics. Stereotypes are gently addressed, perhaps in a somewhat transparent way, but still realistically so. After all, while twelve-year-olds are extremely intelligent and are actively seeking to understand the world around them with their ever-increasing capacity to analyze, they can’t comprehend the depths of the social class divide. Especially since adults don’t even understand it fully.

If you’re the kind of parent who likes to read what your tween reads, rest assured: Indian Summer is a book you will also like reading. Although you will probably finish it very quickly. While the quality of the writing is high, the style is kept relatively simple, respecting a tween’s intelligence while keeping the story readable

– Sahar, Blogcritics.org

http://blogcritics.org/books/article/book-review-indian-summer-by-tracy/

I loved this novel which has a beautiful summer backdrop – think of hot days, the scent of flowers, dappled sunshine, chirping crickets and hay stacks. Richardson builds up the atmosphere of summer really well in her young adult novel. I felt compelled to keep reading and to find out if Marcie and her friends and family could really pull together and help save James Wood.

I would certainly recommend this novel to early teenage readers. It is fun yet mysterious and also delivers that all-important feeling of suspense. Certainly a book worth reading.

–Jessica Roberts, Bookpleasures

Young adult readers will enjoy following Marcie as she grows in confidence while gently guided by the spirit of a young Native American girl to unlock mysteries about her special place, James Woods, and as she fights for something she feels strongly about.

Author Richardson does a nice job touching on and balancing the topics of peer pressure, adolescence, the environment, making responsible choices, living within "your means," and activism without seeming preachy. She also examines inter-class relationships nicely. The well-written plot of Indian Summer is interesting and readers will relate to Marcie.

 A great read for tween girls.

--Judy Miller, Story Circle Book Reviews

The storyline [of Indian Summer] is calming, interesting, and intriguing . . . it also gives a feeling of suspense. I recommend this book to every young reader… Richardson is a fabulous author . . . and I certainly hope to read many more of her books. I thought Indian Summer was superb, and it kept me on the edge of my seat throughout the entire story.

--Brenna Bales, Reader Views

Is a new housing development inevitable progress or are there important reasons to keep James Wood as it has been for millennia? Marcie’s family values and the desire to be accepted by a wealthy, popular girl from school pull her in conflicting directions until she learns to choose for herself. Sailing details give a feeling of reality to this summer-at-the-lake story. At the same time, the sense of flying so strong it feels real and a bracelet that links the present with . . . Native American past lend a mystical flavor that carries readers beyond the ordinary.

–LeAnne Hardy, author of Between Two Worlds and The Wooden Ox

 Buy at these Bookstores!