Marvelous Middle Grade Monday
Selling Hope (Feiwel and Friends, 2010) by Kristin O’Donnell Tubb is one of those fascinating stories with characters so real you want to meet them. Here’s an introduction:
It’s 1910 and 13-year-old Hope McDaniels and her father, a philosophical/talkative magician, are part of a vaudeville group. The group is going back to Chicago, her home town, and Hope wants to stay and in fact does things that could contribute to her father getting fired to ensure staying. Meanwhile, she knows she has to save up enough money for them to live on for a while and comes up with the scheme of selling anti-comet pills as people are afraid of Halley’s Comet that will be passing by the earth.
The story includes a countdown to the arrival of the comet. It was fun learning inside knowledge on how some tricks work, and reading about their life on the train and in boarding houses. This author did her research! Great way to learn some history as well as being entertained.
Check out Kristin’s other book, Autumn Winifred Oliver Does Things Different on her website. On her About page, check out what makes her tick or ticks her off!