{"product_id":"brave-in-the-woods-isbn-9781984813992","title":"Brave in the Woods","description":"\u003cb\u003eCritically acclaimed Tracy Holczer returns with a heartrending tale about a girl descended from the Grimm brothers who sets out to break what she thinks is a family curse.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTwelve-year-old Juni is convinced her family is cursed. Long ago, her ancestors, the Grimm Brothers, offended a witch who cursed them and their descendants to suffer through their beloved fairy tales over and over again--to be at the mercy of extreme luck, both good and bad. Juni fears any good luck allotted to her family she used up just by being born, so when she wakes up in the middle of the night with the horrible feeling like antlers are growing from her head, she knows something is wrong. The next day she learns her older brother Connor has gone missing during his tour in Afghanistan. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHer family begins grieving his loss in their own ways but Juni can't help but believe that his disappearance means the family curse has struck again. Juni is convinced the only way to bring her brother home is to break the family curse and so she sets out on a quest to do just that. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFrom Charlotte Huck honoree Tracy Holczer comes a stunning new novel about the power of stories, the enormity of grief, and the brilliancy of hope.\u003cb\u003e\u003cu\u003ePraise for \u003ci\u003eBrave in the Woods\u003c\/i\u003e:\u003c\/u\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eA 2022-2023 Camellia Children’s Choice Book Award Nominee (AL)\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e★ “This is \u003cb\u003ea beautiful tale of love and grief, friendship and family, and of hope\u003c\/b\u003e. . . Give this to readers who loved Ali Benjamin’s \u003ci\u003eThe Thing About Jellyfish\u003c\/i\u003e and Kate Allen’s \u003ci\u003eThe Line Tender\u003c\/i\u003e. . . Holczer’s use of humor, thoughtful imagery, and magical realism elements makes this \u003cb\u003ea wholly unique blend of modern fairy tale, hero’s quest, and coming-of-age story\u003c\/b\u003e. A suggested purchase for all middle grade collections.” —\u003ci\u003eSchool Library Journal\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003cb\u003estarred review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Holczer’s clear, gentle prose allows the emotional and descriptive elements of the text to shine in this multilayered road-trip story . . . \u003cb\u003eA thoughtful exploration of grief, family lore, and human connection\u003c\/b\u003e.” —\u003ci\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e “By turns \u003cb\u003eheartbreaking and humorous\u003c\/b\u003e, this is a story that hints at the possibility of magic while remaining rooted in real-world problems and relationships. There is love and hope amid the grief and confusion, just as the Grimm tales contain both wonders and horrors in their own right. \u003cb\u003eA heartfelt lesson on the power of love and the tales we tell ourselves\u003c\/b\u003e.” —\u003ci\u003eBooklist\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e“Holczer has crafted another \u003cb\u003eheartrending story\u003c\/b\u003e of familial loss, grief, and healing. . . The \u003cb\u003eimagery-rich text \u003c\/b\u003e. . . [and] \u003cb\u003ewell-developed secondary characters\u003c\/b\u003e help readers better understand Juni and the relationships she cherishes, while supporting her journey toward accepting the truth and finally letting go.” —\u003ci\u003eThe Horn Book\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cu\u003ePraise for \u003ci\u003eEverything Else in the Universe\u003c\/i\u003e:\u003c\/u\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cb\u003eA South Carolina Junior Book Award Nominee \u003cb\u003e– 2020-2021\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAn ILA Teachers’ Choices Reading List – 2019\u003cbr\u003eA Charlotte Huck Honoree – 2019\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e★“\u003cb\u003eA resonant historical novel\u003c\/b\u003e and a \u003cb\u003ethoughtful exploration of how war and injury affect family, friendships, and individual growth\u003c\/b\u003e.” \u003ci\u003e—Publishers Weekly,\u003c\/i\u003e \u003cb\u003estarred review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“The novel introduces \u003cb\u003ea nuanced view of the Vietnam War to readers\u003c\/b\u003e…This is \u003cb\u003ea quiet, tender work of historical fiction about grief, love, and learning to let go\u003c\/b\u003e…A worthy addition to any middle grade collection.” —\u003ci\u003eSchool Library Journal\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e“\u003cb\u003eHeartbreakingly poignant\u003c\/b\u003e…the portrait of two children maturing with grace and tolerance \u003cb\u003eis triumphant\u003c\/b\u003e.” \u003ci\u003e—Horn Book Magazine\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cu\u003ePraise for \u003ci\u003eThe Secret Hum of a Daisy\u003c\/i\u003e:\u003c\/u\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eA Summer 2014 Kids' Indie Next Pick!\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e★ \"\u003cb\u003eA lovely and captivating debut\u003c\/b\u003e . . . Holczer writes with depth, heart, and a poetic lilt . . . nuanced characters engage from beginning to end.\"—\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003cb\u003estarred review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e★ \"Holczer \u003cb\u003eexpertly crafts \u003c\/b\u003ethe characters and dialogue to create a story readers will identify with, and thoroughly enjoy… More than simply a book about grief and the death of a parent, Grace’s story is about the search for identity. \u003cb\u003eAn essential purchase for middle-grade collections\u003c\/b\u003e.\"—School Library Journal, \u003cb\u003estarred review\u003c\/b\u003eTracy Holczer is the author of the critically acclaimed novel \u003ci\u003eThe Secret Hum of a Daisy\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eEverything Else in the Universe\u003c\/i\u003e. She has a deep love for the mountains where she grew up, the lakes and rivers that crisscrossed her childhood, so she writes them into her stories. Tracy Holczer currently lives in Southern California with her family and a variety of cats.\u003cp\u003eVELVET BONES\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eJuniper felt it when her brother disappeared.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eShe was certain of this.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eOddly, her lungs didn’t go all wonky the way they sometimes did when bad things happened. Like a hive of bees was inside her chest, using up every bit of her breath with their buzzing and swarming.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThat feeling would come later.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eInstead, when she startled awake at 2:37 in the morning on July 6—eleven and a half hours behind Afghanistan time and the explosion that started everything—she had the astonishing feeling of antlers growing in. So much so that she jumped out of bed and switched on the twinkle lights above her mirror to make sure she wasn’t turning into a woodland creature out of a fairy tale.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAnd there, clear as her startled expression, she saw them. The fierce velvet antlers of a blacktail deer.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThen they were gone, leaving Juni to hope she’d been dreaming, or she’d lost her marbles, or both. Either would have been better than the third possibility.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eJuni climbed back into bed—alongside Penelope the foster cat—and told herself it was her imagination. Because of course it was. Her grandmother Anya had been reading to Juni, Connor and their father before them the fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm for as long as she could remember. Anya wanted them to understand the truth in the fairy tales, as gruesome as they were, so they might be prepared for life’s twists and turns. Honest stories, Anya had reasoned, helped people make sense of the world as it really was instead of the way everyone wished it would be.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBut Juni believed Anya’s motivation went deeper than that, even if she would never admit it properly. Because if their family legend was to be believed, they were cursed.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDad didn’t believe in the Grimm family legend, that the descendants of Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm were cursed to endure the worst of the treacherous fairy tales, penance for crossing a witch once upon a time. He liked to point out how no one in their family had ever fallen asleep for a thousand years or married a king or eaten a poisoned apple or been turned into a frog. And while that was all technically accurate, Juni had often wondered if it was the spirit of the fairy tales that haunted them more than the literal tales themselves. Their family was, after all, prone to extreme luck, both good and bad.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eNo one knew this better than Juni, who was certain she had used up whatever good luck she’d been allotted simply by being born. Three miracles was what it had taken to save her. She’d cheated Death, and everyone knew Death was a sore loser.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eJuni looked up at the mural on her wall. Specifically, the watercolor Connor had painted of a ten-point buck just before he left for basic training all those months ago. It was meant to be a reminder that she had survived. The buck had been a witness.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis calmed her. Between the buck being the last thing she saw before going to sleep each night, and a lifetime of stories about a family curse, it was no wonder Juni had dreamed a fairy-tale sort of dream. So, with nothing to be done in the middle of the night, she forced the whole shebang straight out of her mind and let Penelope’s soft purr lull her back to sleep. Morning was the only antidote to crazy midnight imaginings. All she had to do was get there.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBut the antler dream haunted her. And when they found out Connor had gone missing in action later that very day, Juni couldn’t stop thinking about the curse, how the two might be connected. There was no antidote for that. Except one only Anya could provide.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eJuni tried to be logical. She didn’t want to burden Anya with her crazy antler problem when they were all going through so much. But finally, three agonizing days later, with the feeling she was about to come apart at the joints and fall into a pile of bones, Juni couldn’t help herself.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThey sat in matching Adirondack chairs on the deck, quietly watching a summer storm build over the water. Before the valley was flooded to become Lake Almanor, the Great Western Power Company had moved a Maidu reservation and cemetery, and Anya had always said that when thunder rolled in the sky, and whitecaps rose on the water, it was the justifiable rage of the Maidu.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThere were still forests of pine trees on the bottom, and four-foot-long catfish swimming among the branches. The lake was a melancholy place that Juni felt matched the deepest part of herself.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Deer are often the symbol of an impending journey,” Anya said. “Sometimes your sleeping mind knows what your wakeful mind does not.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“I don’t think I was sleeping when I saw the antlers.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Does it matter?”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Sure. Dreaming is normal. Seeing things is crazy.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Normal? Crazy? We see what we see.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThunder rumbled. The sky turned dark and threatening. Penelope jumped into Juni’s lap and tucked her paws under her own soft body. Gray like a shadow, Penelope matched the storm clouds and Juni’s mood.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eJuni whispered, “But what if he’s gone missing because of the curse? What if the dream is trying to tell me something?”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Oh, Juni girl, look at me.” Anya took Juni’s chin in her palm. There were smudges under Anya’s eyes. None of them had slept. “I had no business putting those ideas in your head. They were the silly ramblings of your superstitious old grandmother trying to make sense of her own life. Can you understand that?”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBut Anya looked scared, which scared Juni.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe curse had always been feathery to Juni, like a cirrus cloud, because Anya had never really explained its origin. Nor did she talk much about her own childhood story. Instead, Juni and Connor had followed Anya around in the garden and the woods, along the creeks and rivers and on the lake, as she wove stories of distant family with the fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm until all that darkness and wonder had blended into an irresistible stew. It coursed through Juni’s veins and wrapped around her heart and had her believing that her own miraculous survival, and her life yet to be lived, was part of some vast fairy tale she didn’t yet understand.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“But look what happened to you, to Grandpa Charlie and now to Connor. The stories you’ve told about the rest of the family . . .”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Enough, Juni! We are in charge of our own stories, not the other way around.” Anya’s hand fluttered to her mouth. “No more talk of curses. Promise me.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Okay, Anya. I promise.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eJuni was left even more shaken. She’d never seen Anya in such a state.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eOver the days that followed, Juni desperately tried to talk herself out of believing the curse was real, that there was any meaning in her vision of antlers. It was as Anya had said—her sleeping brain had given her a symbol. That was all. She tried to believe she was no more cursed to grow deer antlers than she was to find herself trapped inside the body of a fox.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBut she couldn’t. No matter how hard Juni tried, she just couldn’t shake the feeling of those new velvet bones taking hold. That alongside losing something precious, she had gained something impossible.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"G.P. 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