The Secret Hum of a Daisy (Paperback)
$7.99
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Description
Twelve-year-old Grace and her mother have always been their own family, traveling from place to place like gypsies. But Grace wants to finally have a home all their own. Just when she thinks she's found it her mother says it's time to move again. Grace summons the courage to tell her mother how she really feels and will always regret that her last words to her were angry ones.
After her mother's sudden death, Grace is forced to live with a grandmother she's never met. She can't imagine her mother would want her to stay with this stranger. Then Grace finds clues in a mysterious treasure hunt, just like the ones her mother used to send her on. Maybe it is her mother, showing her the way to her true home.
Lyrical, poignant and fresh, The Secret Hum of a Daisy is a beautifully told middle grade tale with a great deal of heart.
About the Author
Tracy Holczer lives in Southern California. The Secret Hum of the Daisy is her debut.
Praise For…
* "A lovely and captivating debut . . . nuanced characters engage from beginning to end."--Publishers Weekly, starred review
* "Holczer expertly crafts the characters and dialogue to create a story readers will identify with, and thoroughly enjoy."--School Library Journal, starred review
"Grace's surprising discoveries about herself, her family, her friends, and her struggles with sorrow and forgivenes, are engrossing."--Kirkus Reviews
"Tracy Holczer's story is a lyric about love and loss and not being able to find your future until you've uncovered your past."--Newbery winning author Richard Peck
"Grace's story will steal your heart as she travels toward friendship, love and a place to belong."--Newbery Honor winning author Patricia Reilly Giff
"A lovely story of longing for closeness, and learning about what it means to be family. Poetic and tender."--Newbery Honor winning author Margarita Engle
— various
Staff Picks
Displacement is simply incredible. This story follows a young girl, Kiku, living in San Fransisco who has been making small efforts to connect with her Japanese American descent, when suddenly, Kiku begins to be whisked away in time and place—what she calls being “displaced”—and she realizes she is being pulled into the time of Japanese American incarceration during WWII. These displacements keep happening, until suddenly, Kiku is trapped in the past. She is displaced into a Japanese incarceration camp, and must learn to live during this terrible time and place for her fellow Japanese Americans, without knowing if she’ll ever return. This graphic novel is so quietly powerful and so superbly genius in the way it tells the story. Kiku discusses these displacements and how horrifying it is to be taken from her home and unsure of when she’ll ever get back—which functions as a perfect allegory to the very experience of those Japanese Americans who were taken from their homes and their lives wrongfully, without knowing where they were going or how long they’d be there. It connects the reader to this painful, real experience in an amazing way. This graphic novel is also deeply educational, taking you through many facets and details of the experience of those Japanese Americans who lived through these camps, while also pointing out how limited public education is around this terrible part of our American history. Displacement will stay with me forever; this gem is a must-have for any graphic novel collection, and an extremely important read for all Americans.
(Graphic Novel, Ages 10+) - reviewed by Isabel
