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Children's Fiction Death & Dying

Mama's Going To Buy You a Mockingbird

Puffin Classics Edition

by (author) Jean Little

foreword by Kelley Armstrong

Publisher
Tundra Book Group
Initial publish date
Nov 2013
Category
Death & Dying, Parents, Friendship
  • Paperback / softback

    ISBN
    9780143312376
    Publish Date
    Aug 2005
    List Price
    $9.99
  • Paperback / softback

    ISBN
    9780143187875
    Publish Date
    Nov 2013
    List Price
    $8.99

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Where to buy it

Recommended Age, Grade, and Reading Levels

  • Age: 8 to 12
  • Grade: 3 to 7

Description

Jeremy is not having a good summer. His best friends have moved away, and he has to stay at the cottage with only his little sister Sarah and his Aunt Margery. His parents have remained in the city so his father can have an operation.

When Jeremy finally sees him again, he finds out that his father has cancer and isn’t going to get better. Suddenly, Jeremy’s life has completely changed. But then he finds an unlikely friend in Tess, who knows what it’s like to lose someone. As his friendship with her grows, through good times and bad, Jeremy discovers that his father has left him something that will live forever …

About the authors

Jean Little was born in Taiwan in 1932. Her parents were both doctors. Jean grew up in Ontario and graduated from the University of Toronto. She was born with a severe eye problem and is severely visually impaired. A special "talking" computer assists her with her writing. She has a retired seeing-eye dog named Ritz and a new one named Pippa, with whom she travels. The author focuses on her experiences from the time she was a child through young adulthood in her autobiography, Little by Little, and continues her story in Stars Come Out Within. The books, which will appeal to children 10 and older, are both humorous and poignant as Jean describes living with a disability and the ridicule she sometimes experienced as a result, as well as her love for the world of reading and books. Jean's books include From Anna, Listen for the Singing, Stand In The Wind, Mama's Going To Buy You a Mockingbird, Hey World, Here I Am!, Look through My Window, Emma's Yucky Brother, The Belonging Place, and Mine For Keeps. Listen for the Singing was the Canada Council Children's Literature Award winner in 1977. Mama's Going to Buy You a Mockingbird was the CLA Book of the Year in 1985.
Jean Little's first book, Mine for Keeps, won the Little, Brown Children's Book Award in 1962 and was republished by Viking Penguin in 1995. It tells the story of Sally Copeland, a 10 year old with cerebral palsy, and her adjustment to being home after spending several years in a special school. You'll find that several of the themes in this book appear in a number of the author's other books: dealing with a handicap and the responses of others, fitting in, and adjusting to new situations and surroundings.
http://www.jeanlittle.com/

 

Jean Little's profile page

When librarians finally granted Kelley Armstrong an adult card, she made straight for the epic fantasy and horror shelves. She spent the rest of her childhood and teen years happily roaming fantastical and terrible worlds, and vowed that someday she'd write a story combining swords, sorcery, and the ravenous undead. That story began with the New York Times bestselling Sea of Shadows and continues with Empire of Night.

Armstrong's first works for teens were the New York Times bestselling Darkest Powers and Darkness Rising trilogies. She lives in rural Ontario with her husband, three children, and far too many pets.

Kelley Armstrong's profile page

Editorial Reviews

"There is tragedy in Mama's Going to Buy You a Mockingbird, but it is far outweighed by the sense of hope. Not sappy or sentimental hope—honest hope that rings true to anyone who has experienced loss." - Kelley Armstrong

"If you haven't discovered Jean Little, you are missing out." - Calgary Herald

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