Jubilee
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- $8.99
Publisher Description
Newbery Honor–winning author Patricia Reilly Giff writes a tender, timeless story about a girl who stopped speaking long ago, and how she finds her way back to her voice. For fans of Listening for Lucca, Fish in a Tree, The Rules, and Mockingbird.
Judith lives with her beloved aunt Cora and her faithful Dog on a beautiful island. Years ago, when her mother left, Judith stopped talking. Now she communicates entirely through gestures and taps, and by drawing cartoons, speaking only when she’s alone—or with Dog.
This year, Judith faces a big change—leaving her small, special classroom for a regular fifth-grade class. She likes her new teacher, and finds a maybe-friend in a boy named Mason. But Jubilee’s wandering feet won’t stop until they find her mother. And now she discovers that her mother has moved back to the mainland, nearby. If Jubilee finds her, will her mother’s love be what she needs to speak again?
Judith’s cartoons, sprinkled throughout, add lightness and humor.
ILA-CBC Choices Reading Lists, Children’s Choices
Selected for the Kansas NEA Reading Circle Catalog
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
This slender novel about a silent child speaks loudly to the healing power of relationships, both human and canine. "Everything is right around the corner, Judith. You just have to make it happen." These encouraging words present a particular challenge to Judith Ann Magennis, a fifth grader who hasn't spoken since her mother abandoned her years earlier. "Something had to be crazy about a girl who talked to a mirror instead of people, a girl whose mother took off and left her," Judith tells herself. Raised by her loving Aunt Cora on an island off Maine (and nicknamed Jubilee because, "You're a celebration!"), Judith wants desperately to feel normal in her mainstreamed classroom; instead, she is hurt as peers cast her aside in misunderstanding. Can a dog and an unlikely new friend, both castoffs in their own ways, help Judith take steps toward speaking again? Giff (Until I Find Julian) fills Judith's story with bighearted characters and a palpable sense of place that readers will be glad to spend time with. Ages 8 12.
