Drawing with Whitman
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Product Details
Publisher: Bird Upstairs Books
Release Date: October 12, 2021
Formats: Hardcover, Paperback, Ebook
ISBN: HC: 978-1-954854-01-7; PB: 978-1-734880-26-7; EB: 978-1-734880-27-4
Page Count: 146
Sourland Mountain Series Book 1
Kristin McGlothlin
After a car accident leaves thirteen-year-old Cat in leg casts, she finds solace learning about the wonders of art.
Catalynd Jewett Hamilton has always lived a peaceful life with her family on their old farmstead at the top of Sourland Mountain in New Jersey. But after she and her mother get in a bad car accident, Cat ends up in a wheelchair with two broken legs and her mom begins to suffer from depression. With her older brother leaving for college, Cat has to take charge and guide her family back to happiness.
Luckily for Cat, a new friend named Benton Whitman arrives just in time to help. Benton is a painter who moves into the studio-barn on the Hamilton property and teaches Cat about art. He encourages her to express herself through creative outlets like painting. During their lessons, Cat also learns that Benton is descended from Walt Whitman, a writer who becomes a figure of inspiration for Cat as she works on an important art report for school.
While discovering art and literature, Cat finds inner strength to face her family’s struggles, encouraging her mom to seek help for her depression as she aims to build a better life. Drawing with Whitman is a novel for middle grade readers that tackles the tough subject—and offers rays of brightly colored light.
About the Author
Before becoming an award-winning author, Kristin McGlothlin was the assistant curator of education at the Norton Museum of Art, where she designed and managed the Norton’s art and music programs. She has a BA in Art History and a BA and MA in English. Her Master’s thesis was on the author/illustrator Edward Gorey. McGlothlin wrote and created the artwork for the children’s picture book Andy’s Snowball Story, about the contemporary artist Andy Goldsworthy. Her poem “California T-shirt” was published in the literary magazine Coastlines, and “Roman Ruins in a Modern City” won a haiku contest and was read on Travel with Rick Steves. McGlothlin’s short story “The Red Door” was one of twenty-three finalists among more than four hundred entries in the Florida Weekly 2018 Writing Challenge. Drawing with Whitman is the first in the four-book Sourland Mountain Series, which includes the recently released Listen. Drawing with Whitman is the winner of the 2019 Moonbeam Silver Medal for Pre-Teen Fiction. A writer since she was thirteen, only now, like a million years later, has she settled upon it as her career.
Visit the author’s website at sourlandmountainbooks.com
Reviews
“A sweet middle-grade novel about the power of art.” ―Kirkus Reviews