I Am Lavina Cumming
by Susan Lowell
Lavina Cumming loves life in the Arizona Territory, but when her
mother dies she must move to Santa Cruz to live with her aunt. As
Lavina struggles with a new school, new friends, and her awful cousin,
an earthquake demolishes the nearby city of San Francisco and Lavina
finds herself with a big decision to make about her future.
Susan Lowell
Author's Bio:Susan Lowell lives in Tucson, Arizona. She is the winner of the
Mountains & Plains Booksellers Awards for children's books, the Hungry Mind Review Children's Book of Distinction Awards, and the Arizona Children's Author Award. Her previous children's books include I Am Lavina Cumming (Milkweed, 1993) and The Three Little Javelinas (Northland Press, 1992).
Awards:Mountains & Plains Booksellers Association Regional Book Award:
1994
Arizona Children's Author Award (Arizona Library Association):
1994
Hungry Mind Review's Children's Books of Distinction Award: 1994
Quotes:“This lovely novel, based on the journals, letters, diaries and oral
stories of the author's grandmother, . . . supplies the deep kind of
pleasure I remember feeling when I first read the “Little House' books
in childhood. This novel is one of the best I've read in years.” —Jane
Resh Thomas, Minneapolis Star Tribune
“This book is a first-rate
treat. Readers feel the strength and grit that was both a part of
Lavina Cumming and the countless others who, then and now, find the
courage to do what they must.” —Kendal A. Rautzhan, syndicated article
“This book is a first-rate treat.” —El Paso Herald Post
“Lavina is ten years old
when her father sends her to live with his sister in California. Her
new world with two-story houses, automobiles, and her bratty cousin . .
. leaves her homesick for the dusty splendor and outdoorsy lifestyle of
her family's Arizona ranch. . . . Lowell's descriptive narrative provides
a detailed sense of setting and an accurate depiction of life in the
early twentieth century.”--Horn Book
“In
this delightful book the author incorporates the art of storytelling
into her tale.” --Marya Jansen-Gruber, Children's Literature.
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