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100% written and illustrated by kids ages 6-13

July/August 2002


By

Love

Rebecca loved that dog. If anything happened to it, I think she’d probably convince her mother to sue the vet. She’d say they didn’t give her dog enough care or that they messed up the last time she took her dog for a checkup. I’m sorry to say that I hated my cousin Rebecca’s dog. I never told her this, but it’s true. From the moment I walked in the door the first time Aunt Jess, Rebecca’s mom, asked me to babysit Rebecca, that dog and I have hated each other. I hated the way it stared at you with a kind of smirk on its face. I hated the way Rebecca let its hair grow in front of its eyes, so that you could never tell if it was looking at you or not. The dog’s name was Lawyer, named after the job Rebecca’s father used to have before he and her mother got divorced. Aunt Jess complained that he was never home enough, but Rebecca and I didn’t blame her. As he became more successful, though, we began to see less and less of him. He was always rushing from one case to another, one court to the next. After Rebecca’s parents got divorced, her father went away to college to get a degree in Library Science, and became a librarian at a library in New York. He didn’t want to stay in California because he didn’t want to have to face Rebecca or her mom, or worse, the dog. It would remind him of his past job and past family, and Rebecca’s father just wasn’t strong enough to face his own problems. “I have news about my dad! He’s coming back!” said Rebecca, excitedly Rebecca asked me to come with her to walk Lawyer one day, and I accepted, not wanting to hurt her feelings. I could tell that Lawyer was uncomfortable with me around from the second he saw me. He growled and kept casting glances at me over his shoulder. Somehow Rebecca didn’t notice. “I have news about my dad! He’s coming back!” said Rebecca, excitedly, the moment we started out down her driveway. Her blue eyes glittered in the sun as the wind ruffled through her chestnut-brown hair, which she inherited from her father. Her blue windbreaker really brought out the blue in her eyes. “Really? When did he and your mother decide on this?” I asked, surprised. “Well, I kind of figured it out myself. He sent me a letter for my birthday and at the bottom he said he missed me! Isn’t that great? And so now he’s coming back for me and Lawyer, and my mom is gonna love him again! Isn’t that great, Alice?” I cringed. “Did he specifically say that he was coming back?” I asked her. “Oh, Alice, you don’t understand anything!” she said, laughing. “He’s not supposed to say that he’s coming back. It’s supposed to be a surprise!” “I see,” I said painfully. “And where is he going to stay? I didn’t know your mother forgave him.” “She didn’t have to. He got another job, Alice. He stopped being a lawyer a long time ago. He’s a library guy now,” said Rebecca, eyes twinkling. “Rebecca, what if he doesn’t come back? What if he just misses you but doesn’t want to face you or your mom?” Or your dog, I thought to myself. Rebecca’s expression changed to a serious one. “Alice, you’re not being funny anymore. Stop teasing, because Lawyer and I don’t want to hear it,” she said to me, with a warning tone in her voice. “I’m not teasing! But honestly, just because he misses you doesn’t mean he will come back. It’s only natural for him to miss a daughter like you, but he may not come back. Do you understand what I’m saying, Becca?” I said to her. “No, I don’t. He’s my dad, and he’s coming back because he loves me. You’re the one who doesn’t understand!” she shouted. With that, she tugged on Lawyer’s leash, turned around, and sprinted home with the dog at her heels. She tripped over her untied shoelaces, but luckily she didn’t fall. Slowly I began walking to my house, which was only two blocks away. When I got home, I called my mom at work and asked her what we needed from the grocery store. She got pretty annoyed at me for bothering her, because as soon as I called I realized that the list was right next to the phone. I grabbed the list and left. As I was walking to the store, I stopped by Rebecca’s house. If there’s one good thing about living in a small town, it’s that everything is real close to everything else. Aunt Jess told me that Rebecca was not in the mood for visitors, so I just followed her into the kitchen. “Do you know what’s up with Becca, hon?” she asked me. She turned on the tap for the sink and started scrubbing away at a pan. I sat down at the table and traced my finger over the hand-stitched tablecloth. It’s about two hundred years old, passed down to the oldest daughter in each generation since my great-great-great-grandparents came to America from Ireland. “Well, she thinks Uncle George is coming back,” I said. Aunt Jess’s hand slammed down on the counter at the mention of his name. “What?” she whispered. She spun around and faced me. “See, Uncle George sent Rebecca a birthday card and said that he missed her, and now she thinks that he’s coming back for her,” I said, not daring to look at Aunt Jess in the eyes. She turned off the water and sunk into a chair, holding her forehead in her hands. I think I saw a tear roll down her face, but I wasn’t sure. “She doesn’t deserve this,” Aunt Jess said softly. “Rebecca deserves two parents in the same house, not one. I wish he’d come


By

Coming into the Light

(for Cameron) Looking down at the Little wrinkled face and The mop of black hair in my arms, I felt excited, holding a baby For the first time. Peeking through tired eyes, he tried To behold the newness of life, But was too sleepy from the Hard work of being born. Seeing his small hands and The little scratch on his face I smiled down at him, And he smiled back in his sleep. I wanted to tell him about What he was in for, All of the adventures and Surprises of the world. He was two days old, Squirming in my arms, And I thought about new life And how it moves from one boy to another. Mark Roberts, 11Windsor, California


By

Tides

Tides by V. M. Caldwell; Milkweed Editions: Minneapolis, 2001; $16.95 People of all ages will love V. M. Caldwell’s Tides, a touching, well-written story. The author includes characters of different ages and personalities, making it enjoyable for a vast expanse of readers. Children who have lost a parent or are experiencing a difficult childhood will especially like the book because it gives hope that things can work out. Tides is about an orphan, Elizabeth, who has recently been adopted by the Sheridan family. Every year the Sheridans go to the ocean to visit their grandmother and cousins. Elizabeth has always wanted to see the ocean, and she looks forward to the trip all year. But when she arrives, she discovers that she is terrified of the water. At the same time, the oldest Sheridan cousin, Adam, is angry and disturbed. Earlier in the year his two best friends were killed while driving home, drunk, from a party. He has never really recovered from the shock of the tragic accident. He treats his grandmother and parents disrespectfully and is cruel to his siblings. The Sheridans’ struggles with these two central problems result in their growth as a family. I have had an experience very similar to Elizabeth’s: ever since I was little, I wanted to learn to swim. Most of my friends could swim, and I envied them very much. I always imagined myself diving into crystal-clear, cool water, swimming with dolphins, and finding mermaid cities. But when I finally went to Lake Michigan, I hated it. The water was freezing and I got cramps. The pebbles hurt my feet, and I couldn’t stand the smell of fish. When I felt seaweed swirl around my leg, I thought it was a fish, coming to eat me. I was so scared that I ran all the way back to the beach and wouldn’t go back into the water for a long time. Most terrifying of all were the waves. I was afraid they would knock me over and that I wouldn’t be able to get back up again. Elizabeth, too, was frightened of the waves, and the seaweed-fish smells made her nauseous. Throughout the entire story, the author helps you relate to all the characters by revealing their feelings and emotions. She writes wonderful dialogue that gives no doubt as to what they are feeling. For example, when Adam comes home because he has learned that his cousin was injured, his sister Molly is openly hostile to him. The description of Molly’s face and tone as well as the dialogue make it obvious that Molly thinks Adam deserted the family and doesn’t deserve to be called a Sheridan any longer. One thing I especially liked about Tides was that the situations in the story were very believable. Often the events in a story are possible, but not probable. In Tides, the characters handle their problems in ways that people might handle their problems in reality. For example, Adam decides to “solve” his problems with the family by leaving home. This is something that happens to many disturbed teens. Adam gets a job close by home for a while but in the fall decides to sign up for conservation work in a national park, instead of going to college as he had originally planned. Despite all the conflicts the author weaves into her plot, everyone’s problems are resolved in a heart-warming, believable way. My favorite message from Tides is that a truly loving family can never be separated. The Sheridans live through many heart-wrenching situations that few families would live through without being permanently damaged. My own family has lived through an extremely difficult situation, but we are still here. Now that everything is over, I can see how we were there for each other the entire time, giving hope and support—just like the Sheridans. Nell Elliott, 12Evanston, Illinois