• Age: 8 to 12
• Grade: 3 to 7

An eloquent, dramatic story of an adolescent girl's first glimpse into the problems of prejudice and the redeeming power of friendships

FOR THIRTEEN-YEAR-OLD KATE, being poor in a small rural Florida town means feeling ashamed and isolated. At school, her classmates laugh at her old clothes and worn shoes. Things are not much better at home. Kate's mother is working long hours at a dairy farm to keep food on the table. Kate has to keep an eye on her brothers - Justin is old enough to talk about running away, and Chip is young enough to keep wandering off.

But one day, the family's goat gets loose and wanders down the road. That's when Kate meets the Wilsons, a tight knit, middle-class African-American family. Kate is particularly drawn to Ruby, the glamorous grown daughter who has returned home from New York City. As Kate begins to spend time with Ruby in town she becomes aware of the undercurrent of discrimination and prejudice that runs through her community, and the complex roles of race and class in her own relationships.

Rosa Jordan offers readers a gripping, empathetic tale of how two families come together despite small town prejudices and cultural differences. In doing so, she provides a window into the larger problems in America, where class and race often divide people.

Originally a freelance journalist, Rosa Jordan has in the past 15 years published nine books: four non-fiction (two set in Cuba), four juvenile fiction (set in the US South), and Far From Botany Bay, her first novel for adults (set in England, Australia, and the South Pacific.) Whatever the form or geography, Jordan’s writings illuminate landscapes where social and political realities intersect with personal courage and compassion. Jordan grew up in the Florida Everglades, attended university in California and Mexico, and emigrated to Canada in 1980. An environmental and social justice activist, she has been on the board of Earthways Foundation almost 20 years. In that capacity, she facilitated the development of an organic agriculture project in the mountains of Guatemala and a jungle cat reserve in Ecuador’s Chocó rainforest. She and her partner Derek Choukalos live, write, ski, and cycle in the Monashee Mountains of British Columbia.

Rosa Jordan's profile page

"Jordan complements Kate's genuineness with an interesting locale, filled with threatening alligators and wily farm animals, intergenerational friendship, and a meaningful lesson in tolerance. A treat for middle readers."
— Kirkus Reviews

"A tender, satisfying offering."
— School Library Journal

"Jordan packs a lot of moral complications and wisdom into a well-crafted and often suspenseful story... Her characterizations are multilayered and believable."
— Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books