A powerful novel about life, death, and reaching beyond memories to find healing: 'The Secretary of the Air Force has asked me to express his deep regret that your husband, Major Walter Pritchard, was killed in action in Afghanistan on October 7. He and several of his men were involved in a firefight in a small village near Kandahar. Major Pritchard was killed by enemy fire. The Secretary extends his deepest sympathy to you and your family in your tragic loss.' With those words, 15-year-old Leah Pritchard's world would never be the same. As she and her family start the process of saying good-bye to their husband and father, twelve boxes are delivered. These boxes, filled with the belongings of the man she knew as father, slowly start to introduce Leah to the Walter Pritchard known to the world. A beautifully written tale of love and family, Small Black Boxes follows Leah as she watches each item weave a tale of her father's life. The reader is transported with Leah as she follows the path of Walter's memories until the last box, when Leah must continue on alone.
Small Black Boxes
and over one million other books are available for Amazon Kindle.
Learn more
| |||||||||||||||
Book Description
Special Offers and Product Promotions
- This item is eligible for our 4-for-3 promotion. Eligible products include select Books and Home & Garden items. Buy any 4 eligible items and get the lowest-priced item free. Here's how (restrictions apply)
Editorial Reviews
Review
The Pritchard family comes to terms with the death of a family member in Turner's latest emotionally charged tale. When Walter Pritchard is killed in Afghanistan near the village of Kandahar, his belongings are carried to the Pritchard home in a series of numbered black boxes. Within each box are mementos of the man's life, returned to his family by the military after being carefully catalogued and separated. Learning from the contents of the boxes, young Leah Pritchard slowly copes with the absence of her father while, within the household, her little brother Noah and mother Elise attempt to do the same. Short chapters, each containing kernels of Walter's life, work as intriguing windows for the reader to peer into the lives of America's wartorn families and those who died in service to their country. Here we see one particular serviceman's world and how each cherished article within the black boxes shaped the tightly knit, loving family he left behind. Leah, who consoles herself by spending time alone with her father's possessions, finds the collar of Clyde, the family's Labrador, within box five. In box six she finds a nearly complete painting her father made of a young Afghan girl. In box 11, a journal she shared with her father. Box one, however, Elise keeps for herself. In time, Leah learns of its mundane contents and of her mother's fervent need to remember her husband's smell and touch during her own tumultuous recovery process. Turner's style carries an alluring simplicity and offers no opinions on the war in Afghanistan, only in the way it affects the family of Walter Pritchard. Turner's audience will likely find themselves mourning the death of Leah's father with each chapter and subsequently learning how to live with the loss. An often painful yet forthright tale of loss and healing in a time of war. --Kirkus Discoveries, October 2010
About the Author
Susan C. Turner wrote Small Black Boxes as a tribute to the men and women who have died in service to our country, and most particularly to the families they leave behind who grieve their loss and hold fast to their memory. Turner is also the author of the acclaimed Rufus Steele adventure series and is known for her delightful picture books, including Benjamin Barley's Button. She lives and writes in Tampa, Florida with her husband, John and cat, Jake. Turner is known around the world for her portrayal of the lives of young people--the challenges they face in growing up and the decisions they must make in becoming who they are.
Product Details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
More About the Author
Susan C. Turner, born in NY and raised in Miami, is the author of the acclaimed Rufus Steele adventure series. She is well known for her delightful picture books, including Benjamin Barley's Button which she wrote and illustrated. Turner is noted for her portrayal of the lives of young people, the challenges they face in growing up, and the decisions they must make in becoming who they are. One of her recent works, Small Black Boxes, a tribute to the men and women who have died in service to our country, and most particularly to the families they leave behind, received positive reviews from readers and book critic Kirkus Discoveries. Under the name Eve Palmer, she also writes and illustrates a series of ancient folk tales. Her latest work, co-authored with Warren W. Teets (World War II veteran) and published in October 2011, is the third book in the Rufus Steele adventure series: Rufus Steele 1943. The book is a competitor for the ForeWord Book of the Year in the Young Adult Fiction category. She is a sought-after speaker at local schools and libraries. Turner lives and writes in Tampa, Florida with her husband, John, and cat, Jake. She is a member of the Society for Children's Book Writers and Illustrators and The Royal Society of Literature. More information is available on her author website www.authorsusancturner.com. Four of her books are now available as eBooks in Kindle format.
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Small Black Boxes,
This review is from: Small Black Boxes (Perfect Paperback)
From the beginning,the author draws the reader into the incredible range of emotions that a young high school girl,her mother, and younger brother experience upon learning of their loved one's death in Afghanistan.The story does not delve into political rationale for war nor does it seek to give easy answers for dealing with deep gut-wrenching pain and grief. But by using the opening of 12 black boxes, we are privileged to journey through the special memories that afford comfort and bring a sense of hope to all three... a soldier's cap that can be held and caressed;a musical score marked in the margin evoking shared evenings of songs together; a hand-made child's valentine treasured by a father;Clyde,the yellow lab's collar; a special portrait drawn by an accomplished artist-soldier. These were just some of the treasures that Major Walter Pritchard packed to take with him on his way to a war on the other side of the world. When they are returned in the black boxes,they reveal the essence of the man to us ;his death and how this family copes with it reveal their character. Susan Turner has written a sensitive,beautiful book that I could not put down til the final page.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Small Black Boxes,
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Small Black Boxes (Perfect Paperback)
Small Black Boxes is a delicately written, timely story of Leah, a young girl, as she faces the fact that her father will not be returning from the war. In spite of her hopes and her father's optimistic sense of duty, death has claimed her hero. What a gift Susan C. Turner has for painting pictures with words, bringing people to life, evoking feelings and gently leaving her reader in a safe hope-filled place! The telling is genuine and sensitive.Small Black Boxes
5.0 out of 5 stars
Facing Death and Surviving,
By
This review is from: Small Black Boxes (Perfect Paperback)
This book is about a teen-aged girl whose father has been killed in action in the war in Afghanistan. Small Black Boxes is lyrically written, and eloquently expresses the importance of a close-knit family, positive memories, abiding love, and faith in the future, when moving through the mourning process. Turner has exquisitely captured the rhythms of grief and the gradual stirrings of hope that are a part of this adolescent's journey. The result is an unforgettable story.
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
|
|
Tag this product(What's this?)Think of a tag as a keyword or label you consider is strongly related to this product.
Tags will help all customers organize and find favorite items. |
