{"product_id":"the-painting-isbn-9780735263215","title":"The Painting","description":"\u003cb\u003eA haunting, beautiful middle-grade novel about fractured relationships, loss, ghosts, friendship and art.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAnnie and her mother don't see eye to eye. When Annie finds a painting of a lonely lighthouse in their home, she is immediately drawn to it--and her mother wishes it would stay banished in the attic. To her, art has no interest, but Annie loves drawing and painting. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWhen Annie's mother slips into a coma following a car accident, strange things begin to happen to Annie. She finds herself falling into the painting and meeting Claire, a girl her own age living at the lighthouse. Claire's mother Maisie is the artist behind the painting, and like Annie, Claire's relationship with her mother is fraught. Annie thinks she can help them find their way back to each other, and in so doing, help mend her relationship with her own mother. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBut who IS Claire? Why can Annie travel through the painting? And can Annie help her mother wake up from her coma? \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Painting\u003c\/i\u003e is a touching, evocative story with a hint of mystery and suspense to keep readers hooked.\u003cb\u003eOne of CCBC’S \u003ci\u003eBest Books for Kids \u0026amp; Teens\u003c\/i\u003e (2018)\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"[A] cleverly constructed, compellingly paced mystery that's part time-slip story, part ghost story, part meditation on the power of dreaming. . . . Full of emotional truth and connection.\" --\u003cb\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“3\/4… [T]he mounting tension between Claire and Maisie is painfully believable… Highly recommended.” --\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eCM Magazine\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Readers will connect with the characters and fall into the storyline with its focus on artists, loss, and family relationships... Recommended.\" --\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eSchool Library Connection\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\"Moody and atmospheric... the story unfolds at exactly the right pace and is a delicately nuanced tale of secrets, shadows of the past, family ties, heartache and healing.\" --\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eAtlantic Books Today\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cb\u003eCHARIS COTTER\u003c\/b\u003e grew up beside a cemetery and has been living with ghosts ever since. She studied English in university and went to drama school in London, England. Her spooky, suspenseful novel, \u003ci\u003eThe Swallow: A Ghost Story\u003c\/i\u003e, was nominated for many awards and received countless honors. Her picture book, \u003ci\u003eThe Ferryland Visitor: A mysterious tale, \u003c\/i\u003eis based on a true ghost story experienced by Newfoundland artist Gerald L. Squires and his family when they lived at an abandoned lighthouse in the 1970s. Charis has worked extensively in schools and libraries from coast to coast, using drama and storytelling to bring her books to life. Her performances of Newfoundland ghost stories have thrilled audiences of all ages, from Florida to Vancouver Island. She lives at the end of a road beside the ocean, in one of the most haunted parts of Newfoundland.CLAIRE\u003cbr\u003eI was cold. I struggled up through a dream of long white corridors and breaking glass into my freezing bedroom, which was filled with the white light of the full moon. An icy Atlantic breeze inched its way through the gaps in the window frame and slithered around my bed.\u003cbr\u003eI jumped up, ran to the trunk in the corner and hauled out a red woolen blanket. As I turned to get back in bed, the moon pulled at me, and I wrapped the blanket around my shoulders and sat down in the big stuffed armchair. The glowing disc of the moon spilled light in a wide path across the water.\u003cbr\u003eThe beacon from the lighthouse flashed over the silver sea, a steady rhythm, every five seconds. Like a heartbeat. Like a drum.\u003cbr\u003e“Annie,” I whispered. “Where are you?”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eANNIE\u003cbr\u003eThe first time I had the dream was the night of Mom’s accident. The house was quiet. A stillness spread out from my parents’ room.\u003cbr\u003eI lay there for a long time, listening. The curtains were open and a full, silvery moon shone in the window, as bright as a streetlight. Its beam fell on the painting of a Newfoundland lighthouse opposite my bed. It looked different than it did in daylight, transformed by the moonlight into black and white, with sharper outlines and deeper shadows.\u003cbr\u003eA white seabird with black-tipped wings swooped across the dark clouds—I blinked. For just a second I thought I had actually seen the bird moving across the painted surface. I sat up. As I watched, another bird leaped forward and dived into the silver ocean with a splash.\u003cbr\u003e“Annie!” called a faraway voice. I scrambled out of bed.\u003cbr\u003e“Annie!” called the voice again. There was something familiar about it, but it wasn’t coming from downstairs, nor from my parents’ bedroom down the hall. I turned and stared at the painting. I took a step toward it. Now I could see more details: patches of wildflowers by the side of the road leading to the lighthouse, a few sheep grazing on the hill, lights glowing behind the windows of the keeper’s house.\u003cbr\u003eSuddenly the blades of grass in the foreground trembled. A wave passed through the meadow grasses. Then another. I felt a gust of wind on my face, and a wild, unfamiliar smell filled the room. I could taste salt on my lips and I could hear the seabirds crying as they swooped across the sky.\u003cbr\u003e“Annie!” cried the voice again. “Come!”\u003cbr\u003eI took a step forward.\u003cbr\u003eThen I was inside the painting, standing on the road to the lighthouse, with a surprised sheep raising its head to stare at me and the dark ocean stretching away as far as I could see.","brand":"Tundra Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46305090339045,"sku":"NP9780735263215","price":9.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9780735263215.jpg?v=1767740855","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/products\/the-painting-isbn-9780735263215","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}