Perch, Mrs. Sackets, and Crow's Nest [Hardcover]

Karen Pavlicin (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 5, 2007

When 10-year-old Andy Parker reluctantly goes to Grandma's house for the summer, all he can think about is how much he misses his dad in heaven and his best friend Anthony, who moved away. What will he do in this sleepy small town for the entire summer? But it turns out even cow dung can be interesting and something wonderful can come from rotten apples.

FROM THE BACK COVER: Mom called this my Summer of Courage. She said that when you need courage the most is when you realize what's happened in your life and you decide to get up the next morning anyway. Mom and I did our best to keep going, to have courage. We prayed a lot. Sometimes I wondered if God ever listened. I prayed real hard for my dad to get better, but he died. I prayed that Anthony would be my best friend forever, but that was going to be harder now that we didn't live next door to each other. And I prayed that Mom would learn to cook something besides hot dogs and jelly sandwiches. I closed my eyes and prayed for God to send me a sign. Any sign he was listening. He sent me perch, Mrs. Sackets, and crow's nest.

Awarded the Gold Medal for Intermediate/Middle Grade Fiction in the 2007 Moonbeam Children's Book Awards. Named a 2007 NAPPA Honors Book.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"An enjoyable adventure of discovery..." --Midwest Book Review

"...compelling, gentle, flowing, and woven with rich memories..." --Gayle Jacobsen-Huset, Stories for Children Magazine

About the Author

Karen Pavlicin grew up in rural upstate New York, where the story takes place, and now lives in Minnesota with her son, Alexander. They have an apple tree in their backyard and a cow dung clock in their kitchen. PERCH, MRS. SACKETS, AND CROW'S NEST is her first children's novel. Karen says, "One day I was thinking about my childhood and remembered our summertime ritual of cutting up those tiny, hard apples on Grandma's porch. For the first time I realized that it wasn't about the apples. Grandma was a smart woman - she kept her family all coming back to her porch every summer. At the same time, my son and I were beginning a new phase of our lives and I thought he could use a story about those apples. That's when I created Andy and his summer of courage."

Product Details

• Hardcover: 160 pages
• Publisher: Alma Little (October 5, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1934617008
• ISBN-13: 978-1934617007
• Product Dimensions: 7.1 x 5.6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,184,958 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Karen Pavlicin is an award-winning writer known for her practicality, inspirational insight, and sense of humor. An accomplished business leader, hall of fame athlete, and singer-songwriter, she is a sought-after keynote speaker on a variety of topics.

Karen's challenging yet positive experiences during her Marine husband's many deployments, and her volunteer work with military families, inspired her to write Surviving Deployment: A Guide for Military Families and lead military family workshops. She wrote Life After Deployment: Military Families Share Reunion Stories and Advice to help with the many challenges military families face during their reunions. Her poem "Love Letters" in Military Life: Stories and Poems for Children was inspired by her son's love note on the pantry door and the more than 800 handwritten letters she exchanged with her husband during his deployments. Karen regularly consults with family organizations, counselors, and schools to support military families.

Karen's personal experience raising her young son following the death of her husband, as well as her wonderful childhood memories at her Grandma's house inspired her multiple-award-winning children's novel Perch, Mrs. Sackets, and Crow's Nest.

Karen created the Circle of Catholic Women journal series in response to the desire of women in her church community to reflect on their faith in their daily lives and share their faith journey with other women.

Karen's independent record label, Andermax Records, donates 100% of the profits from her music CD, Little Bit of Faith, to cancer research.

She loves photography, a colorful sky, and the challenge and blessings of her new blended family life in Minnesota.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Children's Book For 9-14 year Olds!, September 2, 2007

By 

W. H. McDonald Jr. "The American Author Assoc... (Elk Grove, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Perch, Mrs. Sackets, and Crow's Nest (Hardcover)

Sometimes a good little book goes unnoticed by the reading public. It would be a shame if great children's books like "Perch, Mrs. Sackets, and Crow's Nest" were lost on some bookstore shelf gathering dust because it is a very worthy book for any young reader to add to their book collection.

Author Karen Pavilicin weaves a gentle story that slides in some very good messages without being too blatant. Her story and plot are aimed at young readers - although a young minded adult might enjoy reading it as well. The characters are well defined and interesting. The book will capture the attention of both boys and girls.

If you are a parent, a grandparent, an aunt or an uncle or just someone who has a special young person in their life then this would make a great gift. No batteries or instructions are need - just place the book in their hands and they are ready to roll.

5.0 out of 5 stars Stories for Children Book Review, October 19, 2007

By 

Virginia S. Grenier "Children's Author & Stor... (Ivins, Utah USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Perch, Mrs. Sackets, and Crow's Nest (Hardcover)

PERCH, MRS. SACKETS, AND CROW'S NEST is a fiction novel set in a small town in upstate New York - West Carthage - and is told through the eyes of ten-year-old Andy, who has just lost his dad to a terrible illness; and his best friend, Anthony, who moves to Colorado. Andy's mom decides they both need a change to cope with all that's happened, so they leave Minnesota for the summer to head to Grandma's.

This story flows with warm images from the author's own childhood, of family time spent on Grandma's front porch, peeling apples that had fallen from the apple trees and were wormy, bruised, and smushed. But, this story's not about the apples...it's about Andy and how he adapts to all that has happened to him.

At first he's bored - he's a city boy, after all, and he's used to having lots of things to do. Grandma soon puts him to work doing chores - picking up the fallen apples, visiting with Mrs. Sackets who is busy catching the sunshine through her windows and sending mysterious notepaper back to Andy's mom, who sends it back again to Mrs. Sackets through Andy each day. He finds out that his mom's relationship with her good friend from childhood, John, could be turning into more than just a friendship . . . can Andy cope with this? John takes him fishing and Andy breaks down about missing his father. John offers sage words of comfort to Andy, and they soon haul in a record catch of perch.

Andy adapts to the slower pace of life in Grandma's world and flows with the changes going on around him. He soon makes friends with a fellow soccer player - a girl! Then, one day, he discovers that his friendship with Anthony isn't really over after all.

Although this story isn't really about the apples, the author supplies a delicious recipe from her youth - crow's nest! You must read this book to learn how to make it. [...]

I found this book to be compelling, gentle, flowing, and woven with the rich memories of the past melding into the present. I highly recommend this book for kids that want an interesting book to read with lots of neat ideas in it, and for parents, who want their kids to read a REALLY GOOD BOOK with no violence, swear words, or anything objectionable. Best of all, a portion of all book sales is donated to charity. This is a must read!

5.0 out of 5 stars An enjoyable adventure of discovery ensues., September 6, 2007

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Perch, Mrs. Sackets, and Crow's Nest (Hardcover)

Perch, Mrs. Sackets, and Crow's Nest is a novel for young adults about a ten-year-old boy visiting his grandma for the summer. He dearly misses his deceased father, and his best friend Anthony has moved away. But it turns out that even a sleepy little small town can be a haven for summer fun! An enjoyable adventure of discovery ensues.