Silver Meadows Summer

By Emma Otheguy

Hardcover: 240 pages

Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers

Language: English

ISBN-10: 1524773239

ISBN-13: 978-1524773236

Eleven-year-old Carolina's summer--and life as she knows it--is upended when Papi loses his job, and she and her family must move from Puerto Rico to her Tía Cuca and Uncle Porter's house in upstate New York. Now Carolina must attend Silver Meadows camp, where her bossy older cousin Gabriela rules the social scene.

Just as Carolina worries she'll have to spend the entire summer in Gabriela's shadow, she makes a friend of her own in Jennifer, a fellow artist. Carolina gets another welcome surprise when she stumbles upon a long-abandoned cottage in the woods near the campsite and immediately sees its potential as a creative haven for making art. There, with Jennifer, Carolina begins to reclaim the parts of the life she loved in Puerto Rico and forget about how her relationship with Mami has changed and how distant Papi has become.

But when the future of Silver Meadows and the cottage is thrown into jeopardy, Carolina and--to everyone's surprise--Gabriela come up with a plan to save them. Will it work?

Review

"A warm depiction of family and of standing up for what you believe in."—Kirkus

"An introspective, character-driven tale that will appeal to artists, introverts, or any child who has felt like an outsider."—SLJ

"With comforting warmth and gentle realism, this is a hopeful exploration of what home means."--The Bulletin

 “Silver Meadows Summer, beautiful and wise, is a gem of a book. Its characters are sparkling and unique, its themes utterly universal. We are lucky to have Emma Otheguy writing books for children . . . and for all of us.” —Adam Gidwitz, Newbery Honor–winning author of The Inquisitor’s Tale



"Emma Otheguy’s exquisitely poetic novel, Silver Meadows Summer, is an absolute joy to read. Summertime becomes a magical season of discovery in her beautifully conjured and unforgettable story of immigration and hope for new beginnings. Every reader will fall in love with Carolina and her tender quest to create a home of the heart in an abandoned cottage in New York’s woodlands after losing homes in both Cuba and Puerto Rico. Daring to address vulnerability on the deepest level, this novel cultivates empathy and compassion. With its stunning evocation of the poems of Frost and Machado, its attention to family ties and class tensions, and its faith in friendships that create cultural bridges, Silver Meadows Summer is a magnificent contribution to the diversity of the new American literature for young readers."
—Ruth Behar, author of Lucky Broken Girl

“Silver Meadows Summer is a delightful story . . . framed by nostalgia and questions of identity.” —Margarita Engle, Young People’s Poet Laureate and Newbery Honor–winning author of The Surrender Tree


Biography

EMMA OTHEGUY is the author of the bilingual picture book MARTÍ'S SONG FOR FREEDOM/MARTÍ Y SUS VERSOS POR LA LIBERTAD (Lee & Low, 2017) about Cuban poet and national hero José Martí, as well as the forthcoming POPE FRANCIS: BUILDER OF BRIDGES (Bloomsbury, 2018) and SILVER MEADOWS SUMMER (Knopf, 2019). MARTÍ'S SONG FOR FREEDOM received starred reviews, from School Library Journal, Booklist, Kirkus, Publishers Weekly, and Shelf Awareness. MARTÍ was also named a Best Book of the Year by Kirkus Reviews, School Library Journal, the New York Public Library, and the Bank Street Center for Children's Literature. Otheguy’s short story for children “Fairies in Town” was awarded Magazine Merit Honors by SCBWI, and her scholarly article “Sermonizing in New York: The Children’s Magazines of Mary Mapes Dodge and José Martí” appeared in ETHICS IN CHILDREN'S LITERATURE (Ashgate, 2014).

Emma attended Swarthmore College, where she studied children’s literature with Donna Jo Napoli and graduated with Honors. Later, she worked in farm-based education, at a children’s bookstore, and as an elementary school Spanish teacher. She is now a Ph.D. Candidate in History at New York University, focusing on Spain and colonial Latin America. Emma has held fellowships and grants from the American Historical Association, the Council of Library and Information Resources, and Humanities New York. Emma lives in New York City, where she was born.