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Jacqueline
Horsfall |
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Always play lightly on the earth
. . .
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| Jackie
Horsfall definitely understands why celebrities
get peeved with stalking paparazzi because deer
follow her everywhere—tagging along on hikes, grouping
in her driveway, chowing her apple trees, even (creepy!)
staring at her through her office window. That’s
when the thought hit: They must want me to write
about them.
Jackie’s long writing career started right out of
college, when she was hired into the White House
Correspondence Section—answering the president’s
mail. Since then she’s published hundreds of stories,
articles, and poems in leading children’s magazines
such as Highlights, Ranger Rick, Jack and Jill, Humpty Dumpty's, Current Health, Pockets, Cobblestone, Calliope. She’s the author of a dozen joke-and-riddle
books, as well as the award-winning nature book
Play Lightly on the Earth, translated into German
and Japanese.
On the serious side, Jackie worked for years as
the director of a women’s center and a county crisis
referral center. The female characters in her stories
mirror the trials of real women in real situations.
After living in Germany and traveling widely in
Europe and Russia, Jackie now makes her home (amid
snooping deer) in the Finger Lakes region of upstate
New York. She loves getting fan e-mails and is a
pro at responding—just ask the president :)
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For the Love of Strangers
Jacqueline Horsfall
ISBN-13--978-1-61603-003-2
ISBN-10--1-61603-003-8
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Philoxenia.
When the police call using this code word, 16-year-old
Darya knows she will be sheltering strangers:
women with missing teeth, dislocated jaws, black
eyes, and stalking husbands.
Other strangers—nonhuman—seek Darya’s
protection too, whispering from the depths of
the forest in voices only she can hear. If she
obeys the voices, she risks her adoptive mother’s
rage, the taunts of a surly island boy, and the
wrath of her community. If she refuses the voices,
a primeval species faces extermination.
What if you discovered your birth fulfilled an
ancient prophecy?
What if you were destined to save an entire wild
species?
Would you heed the call?
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Excerpt: |
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And then I hear it. Or half-hear it. A voice.
A wordless call carried in a gust of wind
from deep in the woods. I sense it more than
hear it, not my name, but a moaning that pierces
my chest, squeezes the soul-nugget within.
I strain to hear it again, to prove to myself
that it’s not just my imagination. It comes
again, this time as a sense of water trickling
in a shallow creek that never seems to freeze.
I’m shivering but sweating at the same time,
like a person possessed.
A branch snaps nearby. Dry leaves crunch
under the stand of pines, where the snow hasn’t
reached the ground. Not the light rustle of
a squirrel or woodchuck but a heavier thumping
sound, of paws or hoofs or boots. I tense,
listening for the grunting huff of a bear,
the snarl of a bobcat. But the wind picks
up, and a low whooshing sweeps through the
pinetops.
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Praise for For the Love of Strangers |
"For the Love of Strangers instantly drew me into this poignant tale of a Russian adoptee, then continued to intrigue as it masterfully interwove threads of past and present into a haunting, lyrical novel that echoes in the heart and mind long after the pages are closed."
~Patricia Hermes, award-winning author of You Shouldn't Have to Say Goodbye, Mama, Let's Dance, and Dear America/My America series
"For the Love of Strangers is a thoughtful and exciting read, making for a top pick. Highly Recommended."
~Midwest Book Review
"Darya, powerfully drawn to these animals who communicate with her and see in her the reincarnation of the deer goddess of ancient Siberia, is determined to feed and protect them, in spite of Tee-Tee's insistence that she concentrate on the human victims who need their help instead. The author has worked in social services, so that part of her story is firmly rooted in reality. The addition of a romantic element in a new student, another loner like Darya, is a nice touch."
~Voya
"While the deer's connection to Darya is poetic and the mythological detail is beautifully inserted, it is the safe house and its residents that are the most compelling part of the book. The story moves along at a good pace, and reluctant readers will find this to be a book they can take in. The simple black-and-white illustrations accentuate the magical realism."
~School Library Journal
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