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Published May 2011
192 pages
Genre: Literary Fiction
Publication Information
Returning to the beach cottage - a cottage named Scallop - where she has always celebrated her birthday is a special occasion for Alice Rice.
Who will see the first dolphin this time? The first pelican? What will have changed? Stayed the same? And will this be the year she finally finds a junonia shell?
Alice's friends are all returning, too. And she's certain her parents have the best party planned for her. Alice can't wait. If Alice is lucky, everything will be absolutely perfect. Will Alice be lucky?
"Starred Review. Images of the beach and the moving, meaningful interactions between characters will linger with readers. Ages 8-12." - Publishers Weekly
"Starred Review. With tender observations and sensory details, Henkes creates a memorable young individual whose arcadian growing up is authentic and pitch-perfect. Grades 4-6." - Booklist
"Starred Review. Very few writers have such a keen understanding of the emotional lives of children; here Henkes is at the top of his game. Ages 8-12." - Kirkus
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Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Photo: Laura Dronzek
Kevin Henkes was born in 1960 in Racine, Wisconsin, and during his childhood often visited the local art museum—the Charles A. Wustum Museum of Fine Arts. Henkes was greatly inspired by these visits and by reading his favorite books. As a young child, he pored over books and was intrigued by their authors and illustrators.
In his senior year of high school, a public librarian introduced him to Barbara Bader's American Picturebooks from Noah's Ark to The Beast Within.
Henkes began college at the University of Wisconsin at Madison, choosing to go there in large part because of the School of Education's Cooperative Children's Book Center (CCBC). At the CCBC, Henkes learned about the history and future trajectory of children's literature. The July after his ...
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