7/18 Fri-YAY BookJoy Double-header: Winsome Bingham & Debbi Michiko Florence
Beloved local middle grades author Debbi Michiko Florence was already joining our fab middle grades bookclub on July 18 to discuss Last Chance Academy: A Study in Secrets, when we had the great idea to invite Debbi’s good friend and ours, local kidlit love Winsome Bingham, so we can also celebrate her new release, out July 7, Fish Fry Friday. This evening promises to be delightful and delicious (wink wink), so come through for a bookjoy fix!
More about Last Chance Academy:
Ever since her mom passed away, twelve-year-old Megumi “Meg” Mizuno has been spiraling. After too many low grades and cut classes, she’s been expelled from school—apparently, everyone else has moved past her grief and expects the same from her. Her dad secures her a spot at the prestigious Leland Chase Academy, a boarding school in middle-of-nowhere New York, called the Last Chance Academy by its student body. If Meg can’t make it work there, she’ll be forced to live with her horrible aunt.
At first, Leland Chase seems like an average, if very strict, boarding school, though Meg tentatively warms up to her roommate and some of their classmates. Then, one night, a mysterious envelope appears under her door, inviting Meg and her roommate to participate in a scavenger hunt. The only rules: don’t get caught by faculty or staff and no cheating. The grand prize? A luxury stay at a fancy resort in California. And after learning her dad has plans to sell their family home—with all its memories of Mom—Meg knows she has to win the competition and use the trip’s one-on-one time to convince Dad they shouldn’t move.
Thanks to her mom, who taught her how to solve ciphers, Meg has a knack for puzzles she uses to get ahead in the hunt. But she quickly learns that her classmates seem to have their own sets of skills keeping them in the competition. And as they get deeper in the game, Meg and her fellow competitors realize the anonymous creator has their own agenda…and LCA isn’t quite what it seems.
More about Debbi:
A third-generation Japanese American, Debbi Michiko Florence is the acclaimed author of more than twenty books for children and tweens. Her books have received starred reviews, Junior Library Guild Selections, and inclusion on lists such as Amazon Best Books and the Chicago Public Library Best of the Best. She loves to write stories about friendship and family. Her middle grade novels include Sweet and Sour, This Is How I Roll, A Study in Secrets, and Just Be Cool, Jenna Sakai. She is also the author of the award-winning Jasmine Toguchi chapter book series. A native Californian, Debbi now lives in Connecticut.
More about Fish Fry Friday:
in this mouthwatering companion to Soul Food Sunday, a child joins his grandmother in catching and cooking to prepare for the family’s fish fry.
Fish Fry Friday is the perfect follow-up to Soul Food Sunday, a beloved Coretta Scott King Book Award Illustrator Honor Book.
One special Friday when school is closed, our narrator finally gets to join Granny for her day’s routine. Rods and reels, lures and lines, bobbers and baits are packed in Granny’s Jeep.
Everyone cheers when Granny arrives at the pier—“the queen has arrived!” After reeling in the perfect catch together, they carefully scale and skin, cut and gut, batter and fry the fish into beautiful filets.
But the family meal isn’t complete until Grandson adds his own special side dish to the table—made just like Granny taught Momma, and like Momma taught him.
On Friday evenings, we go to Granny’s for a fish fry. And on Friday mornings, Granny fishes. This Friday, “You coming fishing with me,” Granny says.
More about Winsome:
Winsome Bingham is a soul food connoisseur, master cook, and a US Army war and disabled veteran. She received both bachelor’s and master’s degrees in education and has more than 15 years of teaching experience. You can find her writing on a deck while waiting patiently with a camera to capture a submarine shooting out of the water. She lives in Groton, Connecticut.