Books with author Gloria Whelan

Elsa is a precocious fifth-grade girl who cannot imagine living anywhere but amid the hustle and bustle of busy downtown Detroit. Even in the midst of the Great Depression there are many exciting things to occupy her time. But when the prescription for a sudden illness includes spending the summer at her grandparents' country cottage beside Lake Huron, Elsa must learn to find excitement in "empty" places. Discover with Elsa a summer full of simple yet wonderful new experiences: tending her own garden, fishing on the big lake, exploring a mysterious gully, making new friends, learning to walk barefoot, and picking wild berries. When Elsa returns to the big city at summer's end, will her life ever be the same again?

Kate Tapert sees her life in paintings. She makes sense of the world around her by relating it to what she adores—art. Armed with a suitcase, some canvases, and a scholarship to art school in Detroit, Kate is ready to leave home and fully immerse herself in painting. Sounds like heaven. All Kate needs is a place to stay.That place is the home of her father, famous and reclusive artist Dalton Quinn, a father she hasn't seen or heard from in nearly ten years. When Kate knocks on his door out of the blue, little does she realize what a life-altering move that will turn out to be. But Kate has a dream, and she will work her way into Dalton's life, into his mind, into his heart . . . whether he likes it or not.

Miranda and her mama have always agreed about everything. So when Mama is offered a job with Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show painting scenery, she and Miranda certainly agree that it is time to get out of Fort Lincoln, where they've been doing soldiers' laundry for as long as Miranda can remember.But while Miranda blossoms on the road--meeting Annie Oakley, making friends with an Indian girl, and even participating in the show herself--Mama stews in her hatred of the Indians; she blames them all for her husband's death. And when Chief Sitting Bull joins the troupe, Miranda begins to see that there are two sides to every battle, a vision Mama won't share.Gloria Whelan combines expert storytelling and meticulous historical detail to create a provocative tale that shimmers with remarkable insight into the heart of American history.Notable Children's Trade Books in the Field of Social Studies 2000, National Council for SS & Child. Book Council

Gloria Whelan's National Book Award-winning novel, chronicles the breathtaking story of a remarkable young woman who dares to defy fate. Like many girls her age in India, thirteen-year-old Koly faces her arranged marriage with hope and courage. But Koly's story takes a terrible turn when in the wake of the ceremony, she discovers she's been horribly misled; her life has been sold for a dowry. In prose both graceful and unflinching, this powerful novel relays the story of a rare young woman, who even when cast out into a brutal current of time-worn tradition, sets out to forge her own remarkable future.Inspired by a newspaper article about the real thirteen-year-old widows in India today, this universally acclaimed best-selling novel, characterized by spare, lyrical language and remarkable detail, transports readers into the heart of a gripping tale of hope. Ages 10+

Before the spring of 1878, 11-year-old Annabel Lee had never even heard of a wanigan. But she and her mother are now stranded on the small floating cookshack for three months while her father and the other loggers move their timber down the river to the mills at Lake Huron. With a constant threat of forest fires, timber pirates, and log jams, it’s a perilous journey, especially for a delicate girl who’d rather read poetry than live in the rough company of loggers. But the Au Sable river and its shores soon reveal their beauties. And by the time the wanigan nears Lake Huron, Annabel can’t imagine waking up without a brand-new surprise outside her window each morning. In a novel of rugged river adventure and evocative nature writing, Gloria Whelan brings 19th-century history—and one girl’s summer river journey—to life for young readers.

A riveting tale about love and sacrifice by a National Book Award winner. The Disappeared. Los desaparecidos. This is the name given to those who opposed Argentina?s dictatorial government and were kidnapped to ensure their silence. With her hometown of Buenos Aires ensconsced in the political nightmare, Silvia devises a plan to save her missing brother. She?ll make Norberto, son of the general who arrests dissenters, fall in love with her?and he?ll have his father set Eduardo free. Told in alternating chapters, this powerful and poetic story follows Silvia as she spirals into Norberto?s world, and Eduardo as he struggles to endure physical and emotional torture. Will Silvia?s scheme reunite her family? Or will the pursuit of freedom cost these devoted siblings their lives?

We are all going to be made perfect. This day we left Concord in the rain to travel by wagon the ten miles to our new home, which Father has named Fruitlands....In 1843, with all their possessions loaded onto a single wagon, young Louisa May Alcott and her family bravely venture into the wilderness. Louisa's father is determined to realize his vision of a perfect life: one where people live in peace with each other and with nature, surviving off the land. Louisa keeps a journal in which she vows to try to uphold her father's high ideals.But her family's journey can't erase her own dreams, doubts, frustrations, and fears. With the words "This is to be my secret diary," Louisa begins recording a very different version of events. Unfolding together, the two accounts reveal one remarkable tale of a young writer finding her voice.Based on Louisa May Alcott's own Journals, National Book Award winner Gloria Whelan's novel breathes new life into a forgotten chapter from the youth of the beloved author of Little Women.

Kate Tapert sees her life in paintings. She makes sense of the world around her by relating it to what she adores—art. Armed with a suitcase, some canvases, and a scholarship to art school in Detroit, Kate is ready to leave home and fully immerse herself in painting. Sounds like heaven. All Kate needs is a place to stay.That place is the home of her father, famous and reclusive artist Dalton Quinn, a father she hasn't seen or heard from in nearly ten years. When Kate knocks on his door out of the blue, little does she realize what a life-altering move that will turn out to be. But Kate has a dream, and she will work her way into Dalton's life, into his mind, into his heart . . . whether he likes it or not.

It's the summer of 1942. At her grandparents' island cottage in Michigan, 14–year–old Belle excitedly awaits the arrival of her exotic older cousin, Carolyn. Belle's expecting worldly sophistication and French style. But Carolyn brings much more than that: she carries the troubling reality of the World War that is ravaging her home. Turtle Island will never be the same again. Set against the backdrop of breezy island cottages, this heartrending tale from National Book Award medalist Gloria Whelan is the story of a beautiful place and a special friendship–and how events thousands of miles away shaped them both.