Soul Moon Soup - Softcover

Johnson, Lindsay

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1590786211 ISBN 13: 9781590786215

Publisher: Front Street, Incorporated, 2008

Synopsis

Phoebe Rose dreams of becoming an artist. But the only person who encourages her is her father, and suddenly he's gone, "ripped away like a page from a book." Phoebe and her mother are forced to live on the streets, dragging a suitcase with all their belongings from soup kitchen to soup kitchen, trying to get by. Homelessness nearly crushes Phoebe's spirit and nobody notices when she stops drawing. When the "last worse thing happens," Phoebe's mother sends her to live with her grandmother at Full Moon Lake. Though she misses her mother, Phoebe uses the much needed time ad space to discover an inner strength that allows her to feel at hone, to feed her soul, to sustain herself anywhere she goes. When her mother returns for her, Phoebe must decide whether to go back to the city or stay in the one place that has allowed her to find herself.

About this title

About the Author

Lindsay Lee Johnson grew up in a family of storytellers. She thinks of words as her first and most enduring playthings. Ms. Johnson has worked as a newspaper reporter, editor, community education instructor, visiting author in schools, and free-lance writer of everything from business brochures to greeting cards and fortune cookies, but her heart has always belonged to fiction. She has written award-winning stories for adults and children and has published three books for children-Hurricane Henrietta, A Week With Zeke & Zach, and Soul Moon Soup. Ms. Johnson writes from her home in the east central Minnesota countryside, where she lives with her husband, four cats, and assorted other animals. She and her husband have twin daughters and four grandchildren.

From School Library Journal

Grade 6-9-When Phoebe Rose's father leaves, the child and her mother find themselves on the streets, struggling to make it through each day. Phoebe tells her story in poems that offer snapshots of the sorrow and emptiness of homeless life. She shares her realization that she is a burden, and begins to shut down emotionally as she relinquishes her art and her hope. When their small suitcase is stolen, Phoebe's mother breaks down and sends the 11-year-old to stay with the grandmother she doesn't know. Adjustment to a country way of life and to Gram, who "leaks stories" about her family history, come slowly. When a new friend frees Phoebe to begin drawing again, the girl's pain comes pouring out, climaxing when her mother finally comes to visit. Phoebe's mother's voice is not as true as her daughter's, and occasionally the themes become obtrusive. Although Phoebe comes to some sudden understandings, readers leave her appropriately uncertain yet hopeful. The poetry offers glimpses into a world most people quickly pass by on the streets, and will allow readers to imagine the pain of a child hiding in the world and watching the adults she depends upon collapse. This moving story is likely to inspire thought and discussion.
Susan Oliver, Tampa-Hillsborough Public Library System, FL
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Front Street, Incorporated
• Publication date: 2008
• ISBN 10: 1590786211
• ISBN 13: 9781590786215
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 160