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The Spirit Catchers: An Encounter with Georgia O'Keeffe (Art Encounters)
 
 
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The Spirit Catchers: An Encounter with Georgia O'Keeffe (Art Encounters) [Hardcover]

Kathleen Kudlinski (Author)
5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)

Price: $15.95 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details
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Book Description

Art Encounters September 1, 2005
Art Encounters brings the work of famous artists to life through thrilling and evocative stories that reflect the individual paintings featured. This new series of historical fiction introduces young readers to the styles, methods, techniques, and influences of great painters.



History and fiction merge in this uplifting novel about a boy whose artistic talent awaits a great mind to uncover it. A child of the Depression, Parker begins his relationship with O'Keeffe by stealing her property, notably a camera. She is prepared to let him rot in jail when she develops the photos he has taken with the stolen camera and recognizes the boy's raw ability.



Set against the backdrop of New Mexico's stark beauty, Parker's struggle to find his artistic vision clashes with O'Keeffe's fierce independence and private nature. Parker tries to connect with his surroundings through the use of a camera, while O'Keeffe uses it as an aid for finding points of view otherwise difficult to obtain.



This book is a literary interpretation of O'Keeffe's painting Ram's Skull with Brown Leaves, as well as an intimate look at the artist's fame, her relationship with Alfred Stieglitz, and her creative process.



Georgia O'Keeffe in New Mexico

Georgia O'Keeffe's single greatest inspiration was the New Mexican desert. She went "half mad with love for the place." There O'Keeffe collected the dry, white animal bones scattered over the desert, and painted her first "bone" paintings, including Ram's Skull with Brown Leaves.



After 1934, she returned to New Mexico every summer, moving there permanently after the death of her husband, the art impresario Alfred Stieglitz.



When O'Keeffe visited the Ghost Ranch in Abiquiu, New Mexico, she knew immediately that she wanted to live there. Later, she bought and restored an abandoned hacienda nearby. Although failing eyesight forced her to stop painting with oil in the 70's, she continued to use pencil and watercolor. Active long into her later years, O'Keeffe died in 1986 at the age of 98.



• For readers ages 12 and up

• The first book in the new Art Encounters series

• The story is based around O'Keeffe's painting Ram's Skull with Brown Leaves (Roswell Museum and Art Center, Roswell, NM)

• Georgia O'Keeffe is one of the top five most studied artists in American schools

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Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 6-9–The Great Depression and the world of Georgia O'Keeffe are subject and setting in this entry in a new art historical-fiction series. Parker, 15, loses his family during the Texas dust storms of the '30s, so he sets out for greener pastures in California. Months of walking, thirst, and hunger nearly finish him off, but encounters with an employee of the Ghost Ranch in New Mexico, a Native American spirit, and the famous artist offer a glimmer of hope. Kudlinski evokes the extremes of desert life, from desolation to sun-baked beauty, and then depicts the environment's mesmerizing effect on her characters: e.g., Parker's thirst-inspired hallucinations and O'Keeffe's focused awe. Parker ultimately becomes the painter's photographic assistant, a device offering ample opportunity for describing her home, methods, paintings, and personality–all well researched. The author does not shy away from controversial topics, such as the eroticism of O'Keeffe's art noted by critics. There are enough surprises to keep the pages turning, despite the obvious intent of the book. The notion of "spirit" is woven effectively into a variety of contexts. While teens may not find this title on their own, it would certainly breathe life into a number of curricular-content areas.–Wendy Lukehart, Washington DC Public Library
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

About the Author

Kathleen Kudlinski is the author of numerous books, including Sojourner Truth (0-689-85274-6) and Facing West (0-140-36914-7). Her work has been repeatedly chosen as selections of the Weekly Reader Book Club and Scholastic Book Clubs. She lives in
Guilford, CT.

Product Details

  • Reading level: Ages 12 and up
  • Hardcover: 176 pages
  • Publisher: Watson-Guptill (September 1, 2005)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0823004082
  • ISBN-13: 978-0823004089
  • Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 0.7 x 8.7 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,131,740 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I never wanted to be a writer as a child in Pennsylvania. Instead, studied art and Biology at the University of Maine. I became a science teacher, sharing my love of science with kids in classrooms. When I stopped teaching, I needed a new way to communicate so I tried writing. It felt just right to me from that very first book.
Now I write by a window overlooking a pond at the home in Guilford, Connecticut that I share with my husband, Hank. (You can find his name in the dedication of several books.) Sometimes I write in the log cabin we built together in Weathersfield, Vermont. In either place, nature is all around.
Every week I write and illustrate a nature column in the New Haven Register about some strange animal or plant I have just seen (look for those at www.ctcentral.com)
My grown son is a sculptor and my daughter is a photographer. We all use art to share our knowledge and feelings. That is what art is for. (To learn my kid's names, check my dedication pages)

 

Customer Reviews

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Average Customer Review
5.0 out of 5 stars (2 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars What a great way for kids to learn about artists, October 20, 2004
By 
J.S. (White Plains, NY) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Spirit Catchers: An Encounter with Georgia O'Keeffe (Art Encounters) (Hardcover)
My 12-year-old daughter has been curious about Georgia O'Keeffe ever since we visited her museum in Santa Fe last year. So I got this book for her and she really loved it! Not only is the story a real page-turner, but the author has worked in a lot of real-life quotes from G O'K. I recommend this book to any parent who wants to teach their children about art in a painless, entertaining way!
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5.0 out of 5 stars a story, October 13, 2009
By 
Janet Kidwell "disappointed" (Delray Beach, FL United States) - See all my reviews
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I really liked the book, read it in 2 days and although there are references of Georgia O'Keffee, it was fiction-I do not normally read fiction-so when I started reading and on the first page it disclosed that it is just that, a story and not true, I read it anyway and hope of all hope wised that some of it actually may have happened. Or it was all just the writers imagination.
It read so well that it all seemed possible.
I think the only true part was the location and the artist's home.
Worth every penny!
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Inside This Book (learn more)
First Sentence:
Parker looked over his shoulder and froze. Read the first page
Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Ghost Ranch, Miss O'Keeffe, Sheriff Young, Dust Boy, Georgia O'Keeffe, Sally Belle, New York City, Arthur Pack, New Mexico, Parker Ray, Alfred Stieglitz, Phoebe Pack, William Dark Sky, Aunt Merita, Santo Domingo Pueblo
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