Book Blurb: Dragon Slippers

She wanted dragon gold. She got a pair of shoes.

Many stories tell of damsels in distress, who are rescued from the clutches of fire-breathing dragons by knights in shining armor, and swept off to live happily ever after.

This is not one of those stories.

True, when Creel’s aunt suggests sacrificing her to the local dragon, it is with the hope that the knight will marry Creel and that everyone (aunt and family included) will benefit handsomely. Yet it’s Creel who talks her way out of the dragon’s clutches. And it’s Creel who walks for days on end to seek her fortune in the king’s city with only a bit of embroidery thread and a strange pair of slippers in her possession.

But even Creel could not have guessed the outcome of this tale. For in a country on the verge of war, Creel unknowingly possesses not just any pair of shoes, but a tool that could be used to save her kingdom…or destroy it.



About The Author

The Official Story           

Jessica Day George earned a BA in Humanities/Comparative Literature from Brigham Young University, where she enjoyed classes in Pottery and Old Norse, and dutifully forced herself to take Algebra and Biology. Originally from Idaho, she now resides in Salt Lake City, Utah, with her husband, their young son, and a five pound Maltese named Pippin.

The Rest of the Story:

It's all about the books. Friends, family, school, "real jobs", they were just obstacles to be tackled so that I could return to my true love: books. All I have ever wanted in this world is to read and write books. My criteria for choosing a purse is that it must be able to fit a paperback book inside. I took books on my honeymoon, and bought more while we were there. I picked my major because it looked like I would get to read a lot of books, and also I thought it would provide me with interesting background information for my own books (which it did). From the time I was twelve on up, I told people that I wanted to be a writer. When they said, "So, you’ll teach and then maybe try to write a book?" I would just shake my head. No, I was a writer, and that was all I wanted to do. So over the years until I got published, I lived in Idaho, in New Jersey and Delaware, and in Utah, because it didn’t matter. I could read and write anywhere. I’ve worked at a wedding invitation factory (Bet you didn’t know they made them in big scary factories, did you?), at a video store (back at the birth of DVD), at libraries and bookstores, and even been an office lady at a school while I waited to get published. I knew that I would be published eventually, because . . . well, I just had to be.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I have other interests. I took eight years of German, four of Norwegian, and even studied Old Norse so that I could read the great Viking sagas in the original language. I knit like a maniac: hats, scarves, sweaters, dog sweaters, socks, felted purses, you name it. I play the piano and viola, love to travel and to watch movies.
But mostly, it's about the books.

Meeting Notes: The Best Christmas Pagaent Ever

Our meeting for The Best Christmas Pagaent Ever was a lot of fun.  We had a great time chatting about the book and why we did or didn't like it.  We were able to get four blankets together for the Dove center which will be donated along with the scarves and gloves the library has received.  It was nice to get together in the spirit of giving.

The books for January are as follows.  The Jr. group will be reading Meet Samantha an American Girl book by Susan Adler.  The Sr. Group will be reading Dragon Slippers by Jessica Day George.  Both of the books are great and I hope you enjoy them as much as I did.

Before I close, I would like to let everyone know that the meeting time for the clubs will be changing.  They will now be held on Wednesday nights at 7:00pm.  The Jr club will be the 2nd Wednesday and the Sr. club will be on the 4th Wednesday.   I hope this new times will make it so more people will have the opportunity to come to the meetings.

I'll see you there!

Gloria

Get Talking: The Best Christmas Pagaent Ever

Use 8 adjectives to describe the Herdman family.

Which Herdman is most like you? Why?

How do the Herdmans get to be in the pageant?

The Christmas pageant is a holiday tradition for the town in the book.  What are some holiday traditions you have?

What happens when the Herdmans bring their cat to Show and Tell?

What do you think should have been done about the Herdmans? Do you think it was fair for them to be in the pageant?

Have you ever gotten to perform in front of other people? Tell me about the experience.

Why do you think the Herdman's brought a ham to the baby Jesus?

Book Blurb The Best Christmas Pagaent Ever

The Best Christmas Pageant Ever   
By: Barbara Robinson

The Herdmans are six scrawny children ( Ralph, Imogene, Leroy, Claude, Ollie and Gladys) who are notorious delinquents in their community. Among other things, they lie, steal, smoke cigars (even the girls!), swear, and hit little kids.

The story is narrated by Beth Bradley, a girl in Imogene Herdman's class. Beth's brother, Charlie, unwisely lies to Leroy Herdman, saying that he doesn't mind Leroy stealing his dessert at school because Charlie gets all the snacks he wants at Sunday School. This leads to all six Herdmans showing up at church the next Sunday for the first time in their lives.

Beth's mother is put in charge of the Christmas pageant when the original leader, Mrs. Helen Armstrong, fells and breaks her leg. The announcement for the auditions happens to be on the day the Herdmans show up at church, and, avid movie fans that they are, the Herdman's volunteer (and threaten) their way into all six of the main parts.

In spite of the Herdmans never having heard the Christmas story before (and wanting to change the script so they can hunt down the evil King Herod) and in spite of never making it through a complete rehearsal, the show must go on.




About the Author

I grew up in a southern Ohio river town--Portsmouth--and that small town atmosphere has affected most of my writing.

My mother, widowed when I was three years old, taught school for forty-nine years in that same small town, and her major (indeed, only) extravagance was books. I grew up with, and quickly adopted, the notion that reading was the only way to fill up every scrap of loose time you could snatch.

I had the benefit, as well, of a wide variety of aunts and uncles and cousins, plus the extended family so common to small-town life--the neighbors, friends, teachers, bus drivers, mailmen, local heroes and local neer-do-wells, and even a local blacksmith . . . great stuff to feed the imagination.

I began writing very early--poems, plays, stories--and just never quit. I attended local schools and then, being both bookstruck and stagestruck, found a college--Allegheny College--where I could satisfy both passions.
I've been a short story writer, with some forty to fifty stories in McCall's, Ladies' Home Journal, Redbook, etc.; a playwright; an occasional poet, and finally and most happily, an author of children's books . . . happily, because there's no greater audience than boys and girls who read books and demand that those books be the most exciting, the most mysterious, the most touching, the funniest . . . the best.

I live and write in a suburb of Philadelphia, and I have two daughters--Carolyn, who is a nurse, and Marjorie, who is a sixth grade teacher and at home now with my grandchildren Tomas and Marcos, and all these people read books like crazy!