Bronte's Book Club, UPDATED

Hello Readers,

Kindle & paperback

I'm happy to announce an updated Bronte's Book Club with a new cover by my son Cody Rutty, an author interview, a brownie recipe, and tips for starting your own book club. The story:

It's a pretty summer day at Gray's Beach when 12-year-old Bronte moves to this small California beach town. Shy and lonely, she tries to form a book club in order to make friends. It has a rocky start with jealously, quarrels, and gossip. But as the girls discuss the historical novel Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O'Dell, they see parallels in their lives and that of the main character, Karana, the real-life Chumash Indian who had lived alone on San Nicholas Island during the mid-18oos. As the girls reflect on, and quote from the story, they begin to discover true friendship. And of course, a good dog is involved!

Gray's Beach is also the setting for Cabin Creek Mysteries #10 & #11: The Shadow at Shark Cove and The Legend of the Haunted Lighthouse, when Bronte's cousins Jeff, David and Claire visit for the summer.

New release! Earthquake at Dawn: San Francisco 1906

Kindle & paperback

Dear Parents and Teachers, 

I'm happy to announce an updated Earthquake at Dawn, with a fresh Discussion Guide and Author Interview. Originally published by Harcourt for their Great Episodes Series, it won the Silver Medal for Best Book of the Year (1992) by the Commonwealth Club of California. It also was an ALA Best Book for Young Adults. The story:

It's April 18, 1906, and a powerful earthquake has just rocked San Francisco. Twenty-two year old photographer Edith Irvine and her assistant, Daisy Valentine (age 15), survive the tragedy. Armed with Edith's camera, the two women set out to document the shocking devastation--even as buildings crumble around them and soldiers promise to shoot anyone trying to photograph the crippled city.

Based on a 32-page letter written by earthquake survivor Mary Exa Atkins Campbell and the actual photographs taken by Edith Irvine, Earthquake at Dawn is a harrowing story of the courage and compassion of San Francisco's citizens, catastrophically thrown together in a world turned upside down. 

** A New York Public Library Book for the Teen Age

** A YALSA Popular Paperback for Young Adults

**An NCSS-CBC Notable Children's Trade Book in the Field of Social Studies

** "Touching and exciting, this close-up has immediacy and an authentic voice that brings history vividly to life." -- Kirkus Reviews

** "Gregory does a good job of making the suffering and confusion dramatically vivid, and her writing style has vigor and pace." -- The Bulletin

NEW!! Cabin Creek #12: Alone in the Dark, Dark Woods

Hello friends! 

I'm happy to announce a new Cabin Creek Mystery for readers aged 7 to 10. It's illustrated by my son, Cody Rutty, who now lives in Puerto Escondido, Mexico, with his wife and kitty. We're grateful for the technology that lets us collaborate from different coffee shops; mine near a snowy mountain, his with palm trees and village roosters.

click here

The story: 

It's summer in the mountain town of Cabin Creek with a new adventure for brothers Jeff and David and their cousin Claire. They've started a project to help their community: the Cabin Creek Pup Express. Their caravan of bikes and wagons picks up lonely dogs who need a walk or playtime by the lake. Along the way, the Pup Express follows a strange creature they see in the woods. 

 
When the animal appears to be injured they investigate what it is and from where it came. Their search takes them along a dangerous river through the dark woods, to a surprise discovery ... then to another surprise discovery!

Joyful Sunflower

"The Twist"

 A new burst of whimsy graces a corner of our living room: a joyful sunflower dancing in the wind. "The Twist," painted in acrylic and oil, makes me happy each morning when I wander in, coffee in hand, to start the day. 

The artist, my son Cody Rutty, has illustrated many of my books, including my Cabin Creek Mystery series (available on Amazon). For years we've had fun collaborating, but agree that the process of creating stories and art is mostly done, as he says, "in a sort of vast solitude." 

with the artist

To see a flower standing alone in the crack of a sidewalk, is to see beauty. It's just there, doing what it must. "Hello there!" it seems to say. This painting shows a solitary sunflower, "standing ebulliently wrapped in a scroll of its own making," says Cody. "It reminds me of the act of artistic creation."

When Characters Go Swimming

 The water temperature was 46 degrees when these Seattle swimmers plunged into Elliott Bay last April. Some wore wetsuits, others were bare armed. Yikes, I thought, as I watched from the beach with these two seagulls. 

This reminded me of an editor's comment: "Kristi, I noticed that in all your books a character goes swimming. Even Cleopatra." Well, yes, of course! I'm a swimmer. When writing about Egypt, the Oregon Trail, or a sunny beach in California I get thirsty. Hot. Oh, if only Bronte or the Cabin Creek cousins could jump in and cool off ... hey, wait! They can! My pen soon describes the scene and all is well. I can finish the story. 

The Shadow at Shark Cove

Bronte's Book Club and Cabin Creek Mysteries #10 and #11 are set in Gray's Beach, a small town by the sea on the West Coast. It was fun to add sharks and octopuses, boogie boards and salt water. Diving under waves is a cold thrill but definitely 20 degrees warmer than in Seattle. 

I'm not sure if I'll write about an ice water swim. But you know, on second thought, I've heard that an amazing creature lives deep in Elliott Bay: the Giant Pacific Octopus.  Now that is an interesting story!

UPDATE!! Cabin Creek Mystery #10

Hello Friends and Readers!  I'm excited to tell you about a recent update for the Cabin Creek #10: The Shadow at Shark Cove.

Cousins Jeff (13), David (11), and Claire (10) fly to Gray's Beach, California to spend the summer with their cousin Bronte Bella (13). 

Home of the GPO, Giant Pacific Octopus, they hope to see one up close. Their curiosity is sparked further when they learn about ancient cave drawings in one of the shoreline cliffs: a sea monster with eight arms sinking a canoe. Did this really happen or is it just a legend? 

When a shadowy creature bumps their little boat then swims into a forest of kelp, they have another mystery to solve!  For a link to Amazon click here.

** Bronte's Book Club introduces Bronte when she moved from New Mexico to this small town by the sea.

Old friends in the library

6th graders, field trip

In 1960, in California, a few of us neighborhood kids started the Manhattan Beach 4th Street Book and Snack Club That wasn't its official name, but that's how we thought of it. We were nine years old. With younger siblings tagging along, we rode our bikes to the pier then up the hill to the library where whispering--quiet whispering--was strictly enforced. There we roamed the stacks until we each found a book to check out, its plastic cover then crackling against our handlebars as we rode home, fast, because of the treats that awaited us. It was the best part of the club, eating our snacks while looking out at the ocean. Though we never actually discussed the stories we read, we sure had fun. 

old friends

The other day my niece Hailey sent a photo from a nearby library where she found a modest section of my books. "We're on a field trip to the Palos Verdes Public Library," she texted. "And here you are." My heart soared to see original editions from the Dear America and Royal Diaries series, somewhat ragged, but still in circulation. I have reprinted several different titles through Amazon, and thought it would be fun to post a link here.

The Great Railroad Race was one of my favorite to research and write: 

click here

As the daughter of a newspaper reporter, 14-year-old Libby West keeps a diary account of the exciting events surrounding her during the building of the railroad in the West in 1868. 

I'm still thrilled to read letters from teachers and students studying American history. And our public library is still one of my happy places.