Author Biography

Patricia MacLachlan (1938–2022) was the author of many well-loved novels and picture books, including Sarah, Plain and Tall, winner of the Newbery Medal; its sequels, Skylark and Caleb's Story; Edward's Eyes; The True Gift; Waiting for the Magic; White Fur Flying; Fly Away; and Snow Horses. She lived in western Massachusetts.

Excerpt from Book

Just Dance * 1 * Sweet Songs and Stinkbugs My father, my younger brother Nate, and I sat on the hallway floor outside the one bathroom in our house. You might think we were waiting to use the bathroom, but that was not so. We were listening to my mother sing. She likes to sing in the bathroom when she takes a shower. My father tiled the entire room, in fact. The tiles bounce her voice around so she can hear herself. In the attic I found large posters of my mother, all dressed up in taffeta or silk, singing in great halls, fancy chandeliers above her. Her name, Melinda May, was written in large, important letters. Now my father calls her Min and she sings to the animals and in the tiled bathroom of our farmhouse. When she sings in the shower we come to hear her. Nate hears my whistle and hurries in from the barn. My father comes in from the fields. Once he left his horse Jack by the back door and we later found Jack in the kitchen. We heard the slap of the screen door, and Bett, our herding dog, came down the hallway to lie down next to my father. "The herd is safe. Bett has come to be with her pack and listen," said my father softly. My father set his cowboy hat on the floor next to him, his head leaning against the wall. His eyes were closed. My mother''s voice sounded lovely and clean, like newly washed glass. "Un bel d

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