Marvelous Middle Grade Monday
It took me a bit to get into Not Lucille (Creative James Media, 2025) by Mike Steele, but I was glad I persisted with this historical novel from the 1930s. Lucy is such a sympathetic character.
Ten-year-old Lucy Contento’s fifth grade year is not going well. She talks too much. She doesn’t pay attention. And she can’t write with her left hand. Plus, her teacher hates her. But her new friend Florence, who’s deaf, is the best–even if she does encourage Lucy to write right handed. Just if Lucy didn’t have to be disobeying her parents by trespassing and lying to spend time with Florence.
I love how Lucy is learning sign language so she and Florence can talk easier. What she wants most is an American Sign Language dictionary, but with Dad out of work, money’s another problem.
The inside look into history before people understood how different brains work and that left-handedness was wrong is such a good topic.
I also really enjoyed the back matter. I had no clue how long it was before an ASL dictionary was created. (Life for Florence reminded me of the experiences of the son in the movie Mr. Holland’s Opus.)
Read about the author here.