The Way a Door Closes
Square Fish
Available: 03/15/11
6.47 x 10.08 · 64 pages
Ages 8-12 years
9780312661694
CDN $14.50
· pb
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Coretta Scott King-John Steptoe New Talent Award Winner
In this beautifully written and powerfully moving novel in poems, Hope Anita Smith tells the story of a young man's struggle to accept a father who has walked out on his family.
My best friend, Preacher, is being just that. His sermon today is on fathers and I am his congregation.
Dads are light. They have no roots.
One strong wind, and they're gone.
Out of here. History."
With a click, a bang, a whisper - or no noise at all. There are so many ways that a door can close, but it's not just the closing; it's the knowing. And thirteen-year-old CJ knows too much - about losing his father, about his family's pain, and especially about what it means to hold things together when times are the toughest. Here, in CJ's words, is a portrait of hurt and healing, and finding the strength to open the door again.
The Way a Door Closes is the winner of the 2004 Coretta Scott King-John Steptoe New Talent Award and the 2004 Bank Street - Claudia Lewis Award and is a 2004 Bank Street - Best Children's Book of the Year.
Hope Anita Smith is the author of The Way a Door Closes and its sequel, Keeping the Night Watch . A professional story-teller, Hope teaches poetry-writing workshops to all grade levels. A native of Akron, Ohio, Ms. Smith now lives in Los Angeles, California. Shane W. Evans has created pictures for over 50 books for children, including Why?, Mixed Me!, and My Friend! He has worked with authors including Shaquille O'Neal, Andrea Davis Pinkney, and Holly Robinson Peete. His awards and honors include Jane Addams Honor Book awards for Lillian's Right to Vote and We March ; and the Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award for Underground: Finding the Light to Freedom, all of which he wrote and illustrated. Shane also received an NAACP Image Award for his collaborative work with the Peete family on My Brother Charlie . Follow him at: shaneevans.com & dreamstudio777.com
