Announcing the Lucky Winner of COUNTING ON GRACE

Dear Reader,  It's always an exciting moment to discover just who is going to be the winner in the book drawing. I'm always wishing it could be all of you, but since it can't be, I rely on random.org to choose for me. Much easier that way!  So, who is the LUCKY WINNER of  Counting on Grace, so generously donated and autographed by Author Elizabeth Winthrop? www.elizabethwinthrop.com We'll find out after some important news and updates!

In the last post, Elizabeth wrote that she was assisted by Joe Manning when she was on the trail of Addie Card, the child in the Lewis Hine's photograph that you see on the cover of Counting on Grace. Mr. Manning left a comment on the post and shared some links you'll want to check out. Who knows, one of you may be inspired to write about one of the children Joe researched!

This is what Joe wrote:
"I am the author and historian who helped Elizabeth track down Addie's family. I wrote a long story about the search, and it is posted on my website. You can see it at: http://www.morningsonmaplestreet.com/addiesearch1.html

"Thanks to Elizabeth, I was inspired to create what I call the Lewis Hine Project, which is a quest to track down the stories of many other child laborers who were photographed by Hine. I have since completed successful searches for more than 200 children." www.morningsonmaplestreet.com/lewishine.html


Before I announce the winner, I wanted to share this jazzy book by Elizabeth that will get you snapping your fingers and tapping your toes!

The Red-Hot Rattoons by Elizabeth Winthrop  illustrated by Betsy Lewin: Grade 4-6: The rats of NIMH have nothing on Benny, Fletcher, Ella, Woody, and Monk, five young jazz- and tap-dancing rats who set out for the fabled Big City in hopes of seeing their names in lights. Making the Big Time turns out to be no walk in the park-well, actually, it does, as the Rattoons escape a misguided and near-fatal debut on the steps of the Metropolitan Museum of Art by diving into Central Park's shrubbery. Escaping hawks, dogs, poison, and other hazards, the troupe then makes its way to Rat Hollow, a bustling subterranean burg whose residents can chow down on tasty garbage provided at the "ratomat" between visits to the Performing Rats Library. Ultimately, the Rattoons ascend to the massively grandiloquent "Crystal" (known to humans as Radio City Music Hall), where an impromptu performance during the Holiday Hullabaloo earns the quintet not only a standing "O" from the stunned audience but a marquee billing with their names in four-foot letters to boot. Lewin's sketches of tiny, high-stepping rats add stylish notes at each chapter's head, and Rat Hollow, which mirrors the thinly disguised New York above ground, provides a side-splitting backdrop to this engaging tale of life on (and beneath) the boards. School Library Journal John Peters, New York Public Library  
Click on this link to learn more about the Red Hot Rattoons and purchase it! http://www.amazon.com/Red-Hot-Rattoons-Elizabeth-Winthrop/dp/0805079866/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1297724758&sr=1-1

      *****ANNOUNCING THE LUCKY WINNER of  Counting on Grace*****


The winner is: ****Linda O'Connell****   Congratulations, Linda!  I hope you'll take a moment to congratulate her, too!  Linda, please e-mail me: claragillowclark (@) gmail(dot)com with your mailing address and your autographed book will be on its way shortly. 

Thank you, Elizabeth Winthrop for sharing insights and inside stories of your books, your writing, and your research. 

Our next guest writes historical YA, and I know you won't want to miss her book birthday coming up next week on George Washington's Birthday! The setting of the book is NYC around the turn of the 20th-Century! How exciting is that?