Marvelous Middle Grade Monday
Elsetime (Everything with Words, 2020) by Eve McDonnell is a fascinating historical set in two time periods (1864 and 1928) with time travel, and was inspired by the 1928 Great Flood of London.
First we meet orphaned Glory, an eleven-year-old looking for a job, who is dressing up to look older. She’s been expelled from school because of her wooden hand–it would be a waste to educate her. But not only is she determined to get a job, she plans to own an emporium someday. Meanwhile, she and her older sister must earn enough to keep the landlord at bay.
Then the story switches to Needle, also eleven, whose father is missing. A mudlark who digs up lost treasures at the river’s edge, Needle senses the story behind each piece. He takes his found bits and pieces and makes beautiful things to sell so he and his mother can survive.
What connects them? A crow named Magpie and a list of who will die in the flood.
The novel has won awards: Winner Children’s Book Award (pre-publication) Wells Festival of Literature 2017, Book of the Year 2020: Halfway Up Books, and Children’s Book of the Year 2020: Bridge Street Books.
Read about this Irish author here and check out her other books here. Eve is also an artist!