Saucy and Bubba

COMPELLING AND ULTIMATELY HOPEFUL STORY


In this modern-day Hansel and Gretel story, Saucy and Bubba struggle to get along with Krissy, their alcoholic stepmother. One freezing cold night, Krissy locks Saucy out of the house and Saucy must sleep in the barn. In a desperate move, Saucy and Bubba run away to their aunt’s house–except Aunt Vivian isn’t home. Trying to take care of Bubba for several days forces Saucy to take charge of her own life and accept a terrible sacrifice in order to find safety for herself. 

This middle grade novel is a heartbreakingly simple story that weave through the tangled threads of a family and builds to an ending full of hope. Author Darcy Pattison recently wrote about the need for books about troubled families on the Children's Book Council Diversity blog.



Stories like this one carry a certain darkness, even if the events carry the weight of truth. It’s in the tradition of Dicey’s Song by Cynthia Voigt, and The Great Gilly Hopkins by Katherine Paterson. Both of these award-winning books tell of painful truths, but they manage to do so with respect for the child reader. I especially like Paterson’s statement that she always ends her stories with a note of hope. Fortunately, Saucy’s story also ends with hope that the family will work things out and come back together



Read Saucy and Bubba's poignant story today.



PRAISE FOR THIS BOOK:

Sometimes you have to help yourself before you can help someone else, but if you mark your trail, you can always find your way home. That's what the spunky main character of Darcy Pattison's Saucy and Bubba learns in this modern day Hansel and Gretel tale. Saucy is a real character dealing with real stuff—hard stuff that doesn't have easy answers, not in real life and not in fairy tales, either. This is a really compelling and ultimately hopeful story. Highly recommended. 

-- Debby Dahl Edwardson, National Book Award finalist and author of My Name is Not Easy