See Rock City (American Storytelling (Paperback)) - Softcover

Davis, Donald

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0874834562 ISBN 13: 9780874834567

Publisher: August House Kids, 1997

Synopsis

Winner of Storytelling World Award & NAPPA Gold Award (Storytelling)

A winding highway, children fighting in the back seat, parents suggesting diversionary games and holding onto their own hopes and fears for the vacation ahead: it's not an uncommon scene. However, it is Donald Davis's genius that turns a lackluster family vacation into a week to remember.

The 1950s-era plastic seat covers were not the only thing to leave a lasting impression. In her spontaneous (and desperate) invention of games like Cow Poker and See Rock City, Mother keeps the rules one step ahead of the back-seat contestants, until one-too-many choruses prompt a detour the family never forgets.

School Library Journal wrote, "The narrative moves gently, smoothly, and charmingly with the cadence of a master storyteller. Suitable for YAs who are looking for historical fiction or who have short story assignments, this book is also the perfect accompaniment for sitting in a favorite rocking chair while sipping homemade lemonade."

About this title

About the Author

Donald Davis Bio: 

Donald Davis was raised in the Great Smoky Mountains of North Carolina. He didn't realize it at the time, but he grew up in a family of gifted storytellers who passed their talent along to Donald. His legendary Uncle Frank was a front-porch storyteller of the first order and the source of many of Donald’s tales. Young Davis was a capable student. He went to college and then to divinity school. For twenty years he served the Western North Carolina Conference of the United Methodist Church.

Then came a day when he found that he would rather tell Uncle Frank's tall tales than give another sermon. He would rather recall two old-maid sisters who abused the party line than marry one more couple. Fortunately, Davis had no trouble finding audiences: all of his former congregations lined up to book him to perform as a storyteller. He now tours the USA ten months a year, making about 300 storytelling presentations annually. He can be found in schools, at libraries, in front of conventions, and as a headliner at storytelling festivals.

Davis has appeared on ABC News Nightline, and he has been a guest on National Public Radio and CNN. His books and spoken word recordings have received critical acclaim and won many awards. Davis has written ten books and recorded twenty audio recordings with August House. When Donald isn’t crisscrossing the country performing his stories, he comes home to Ocracoke Island, North Carolina where he lives with his wife, Merle. 

Reviews

YA?In this sequel to Listening for the Crack of Dawn (August House, 1990), Davis takes readers to rural western North Carolina in 1948, the year he entered kindergarten. In each chapter, he tells a personal or family adventure, including the title story about a vacation during which everything that could go wrong, did go wrong. Readers meet his kindergarten teacher who, when his kitten is run over, has the perfect explanation of the very complex concept of death for the heart-broken child. After a slow start, the narrative moves gently, smoothly, and charmingly with the cadence of a master storyteller. The stories end when Donald is a sophomore in college. Suitable for YAs who are looking for historical fiction or who have short story assignments, this book is also the perfect accompaniment for sitting in a favorite rocking chair while sipping homemade lemonade.?Judy Sokoll, Fairfax County Public Library, VA
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: August House Kids
• Publication date: 1997
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0874834562
• ISBN 13: 9780874834567
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 256