Reading a really good children’s book as an adult is an absolute delight. I’ve had this conversation with quite a few of our customers lately, as we are all on the search for our next great read. Sometimes, the length and depth of even a well-written piece of fiction for adults can just feel like too much to take on. This is where solid middle grade fiction (intended for ages 9 - 12) can work wonders for the adult reader.
Enter local author Jo Knowles, who has written more than 10 books for young readers of all ages (picture books through young adult novels), and who knows exactly how to write an engaging story for any reader. Last week, she released her latest novel, Someone’s Gonna End Up Crying, about a young girl named Maple who is living her 11-year-old life stressing about math quizzes, her family, and whether or not her dad will ever help her build that tree house she’s been dreaming of, while processing all of it by drawing in her private sketchbook. As family arguments get increasingly heated and Maple’s dad decides to take a break, her relationships with her siblings and friends—and her access to art—become all the more important.
We’ve all been 11. We’ve also all struggled with watching the ones we love go through things that we don’t understand. Maple deals with it all by drawing and expressing her emotions through comics, which are expertly rendered in this new book by Vermont artist Glynnis Fawkes. Shy, uncertain Maple often becomes the confident & decisive Captain Ladybug and works her problems out on paper, exploring the way that art can help us work through many of the things we are struggling with.
Jo Knowles and Glynnis Fawkes make a beautiful book together, and it’s no surprise: They’ve taught classes together at the Center for Cartoon Studies and will be doing so again this summer. Their collaboration on this book is seamless, bringing Maple’s internal thoughts to life in pictures that really feel just right for the story. Jo writes the kind of books that I wish I had read as a kid, and am so thankful to get to read myself and offer to younger readers now.
We’re extra excited to host Jo Knowles for a book signing at Yankee Bookshop this weekend—she’ll be meeting readers and signing books from 11 to noon, right after the Pride of Woodstock High Heel Race! And if you can’t make it in the morning, you can find her at Norwich Bookstore later in the day (2pm) for a talk about this latest book. It’s an Upper Valley one-day book tour & we hope to see you there!
Kari Meutsch and Kristian Preylowski co-own and run the Yankee Bookshop in Woodstock.