The Lovely Shoes
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- $6.99
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- $6.99
Publisher Description
Can the right pair of shoes make *anyone* feel beautiful?Franny is constantly embarrassed by two things in her life. One is her right foot, which curls in from a birth defect, so she has to wear ugly, heavy orthopedic shoes. And the other is her mother Margaret: beautiful, extravagant, flamboyant -- *mortifying*, in their small Ohio town. Franny's first school dance is a disaster, so Margaret announces her latest crazy plan: They will travel to Italy to meet Salvatore Ferragamo, who will sculpt a pair of slippers especially for Franny. The idea is outrageous. The trip is expensive. And the experience changes Franny's life forever.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Set in the Eisenhower era, Shreve's (Kiss Me Tomorrow) partially autobiographical novel stars ninth-grader Franny, a Midwestern girl with two "damaged" feet and a "skinny little stick of flesh and bone that was her left leg." Self-conscious about her birth defect and the orthopedic shoes that she thinks make her look "stupid," Franny is convinced she'll never have a normal social life, especially after her first attempt to wear regular shoes at a school dance leads to disaster. Then Franny's mother comes up with a brilliant plan: to write a letter to Italian shoe designer Salvatore Ferragamo to ask if he can make Franny a special pair of shoes. Shortly thereafter, Franny is whisked away on a whirlwind, life-changing trip to Florence, where she meets Ferragamo and enjoys her first romance, returning home with rekindled hope and dreams of new possibilities. Celebrating the rewards of determination and a positive attitude, this atmospheric novel credibly depicts Franny's internal growth and changing attitude. The contrast between smalltown Ohio and splendorous Florence provides an intriguing framework for the book's classic themes. Ages 9 12.
