In Search of Mockingbird

by Loretta Ellsworth

Overview

A runaway seeks Harper Lee for answers

Sometimes the things that need to be discovered aren't so easily found at home. Erin is certain that this is true in her case. A book is all that connects Erin to her mother, who died when she was a baby. But how much can Erin really learn about her mother from a tattered copy of To Kill a Mockingbird? On the eve of her sixteenth birthday, Erin decides it's finally time to find out. And so begins her bus journey from Minnesota to Alabama in search of Harper Lee, the reclusive author of Mockingbird.

In a novel full of quirky characters, strange coincidences, and on-the-road adventures, Loretta Ellsworth deftly traces a unique voyage of self-discovery.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780805096958
Publisher:	Henry Holt and Co. (BYR)
Publication date:	04/03/2007
Edition description:	First Edition
Pages:	192
Sales rank:	856,112
Product dimensions:	5.00(w) x 8.00(h) x 0.43(d)
Lexile:	680L (what's this?)
Age Range:	10 - 14 Years

About the Author

Loretta Ellsworth grew up in Mason City, IA. A former teacher and a graduate of Hamline University with a Master’s Degree in Writing for Children, she is the award-winning author of several young adult novels. She has four children and six grandchildren and lives in Lakeville, MN. Stars Over Clear Lake is her first novel for adults.

Read an Excerpt

In Search of Mockingbird

Copyright © 2007 by Loretta Ellsworth

Editorial Reviews

A teen's yearning to connect to her long-deceased mother is at the core of Ellsworth's (The Shrouding Woman) novel. Erin, whose mother died when she was three days old, cherishes her mother's worn paperback copy of To Kill a Mockingbird. This book and a few black-and-white photographs are her sole connections to her mother's life. The day before her 16th birthday, Erin's father gives her the diary her mother had kept at 16. After reading a few entries, Erin learns that she shares many similarities with her mother, including their mutual dream of becoming writers. She then discovers that her mother once wrote to Harper Lee asking, "How do you know if you have what it takes to be a writer?" Erin decides she has to meet Harper Lee in person; she sneaks out of the house and boards a bus to Monroeville, Ala. "She'll be there, sitting in her porch swing, waiting to talk to me." The story bogs down during the road trip, with a great deal of attention given to the adults who offer Erin help along the way. When Erin arrives at her destination, she accepts that traveling to Monroeville won't bring her closer to her mother; only her father can fill in the blanks. Erin's journey of self-discovery gives her the courage to confront her own failings and the maturity to accept her father's plans to marry. Though Erin's voice seems younger than her years, readers will root for her while reaching for a copy of To Kill a Mockingbird. Ages 10-14. (Apr.)

Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information

Publishers Weekly

Believing that the tattered copy of To Kill a Mockingbird she carries around is her only connection to her dead mother, bookish Erin is angry when her newly engaged father gives her the woman's teenaged diary as a 16th-birthday present. Reading that her mom also wanted to be a writer and even wrote to Mockingbird author Harper Lee, Erin acts on her long-held wish to meet her literary idol. Set over the course of a few days in 1986, and featuring a strong sense of the American landscape, Erin travels the thousand-plus miles from St. Paul, Minn. to Monroeville, Ala. on a bus. Along the way, she is shepherded by two quirky guardians: Sedushia, a middle-aged exotic dancer, and Epps, a big, protective computer geek. With a first-person narrative that is eloquent and credible, and prose that is restrained and economical, Ellsworth makes Erin's unlikely coming-of-age trip convincing. Designed to look like an old journal, the story's searching-for-mother theme should make it especially appealing to older fans of Kate DiCamillo's Because of Winn Dixie (2000) and Phyllis Reynolds Naylor's Alice Books. An engaging road trip. (Fiction. 10-14)

Kirkus Reviews

Light, contemporary quest story . . . Suggest this as a follow-up to Lee's classic novel.” —Booklist

“Erin's journey of self-discovery gives her the courage to confront her own failings and the maturity to accept her father's plans to marry. . . . Readers will root for her while reaching for a copy of To Kill a Mockingbird.” —Publishers Weekly

From the Publisher

Loretta Ellsworth’s coming-of-age story pays homage to Harper Lee's TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD. For her sixteenth birthday Erin’s widowed father gives her a diary that belonged to her mother and then announces his plans to marry his girlfriend. In response, Erin hops a bus heading for Monroeville, Alabama, for the purpose of meeting Harper Lee. The narrative of the road trip alternates with entries from the diary, through which Erin connects with the mother she never knew. Though her voice lacks emotionality and sounds much younger than that of a 16-year-old, Jessica Almasy’s delivery is clear and precise. This work may encourage young listeners to read Lee’s classic when they’re older. N.E.M. © AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine

OCT/NOV 08 - AudioFile