Booktalks Quick and Simple

	Auxier, Jonathan. SWEEP : THE STORY OF A GIRL AND HER MONSTER New York : Amulet, 2018 IL 5-8 ISBN 9781419731402 (5 booktalks)
Click on the book to read Amazon reviews	Booktalk #1 Working for a cruel man named Wilkie Crudd or The Clean Sweep, eleven-year-old Nan Sparrow is known as one of the best chimney sweeps in London during the late 1800s. Most of the other sweeps love to hear the stories that Nan likes to tell, but as she continues to grow, it becomes harder for her to clean inside the chimney. One day she finds herself in a difficult situation while cleaning a chimney and she will get to see just how important the item is that her guardian left her. Nan later discovers that the char is a soot golem to look after her. How can Nan help other children forced to work in unsafe chimneys when she is struggling herself to get by? Sweep: The Story of a Girl and Her Monster received the 2019 Sydney Taylor Book Award for Older Readers. (Pennsylvania Young Reader’s Choice Award 2019-2020) Booktalk #2 Auxier’s masterfully woven historical fiction novel wraps in elements of Jewish mythology and magical realism to create the rich and beautiful story of Nan Sparrow. Raised by a chimney sweep, when he disappears and leaves her only a piece of charcoal – her “char”, Nan has to take up with the child-hating Wilkie Crudd who rules the sweep business and employs children to do this hard and dirty work. When a fellow sweep uses the feared “Devil’s Nudge” method to get her out of a chimney, a huge fire ensues in which Nan should have died – could it have been her char that saves her? When she unravels the true meaning of the char, Charlie is born – a Golem made from the very soot and ash she’s been using to keep warm at night. Letting Crudd believe she died in the fire, Nan and Charlie embark on a life together, but it’s tricky to keep both she and her Golem safe and hidden. You’ll be swept up (pun intended) into this Victorian era story of charm and ultimately of love. Multi-layered characters add to the believability of this heart-warming story, and you’ll want to find out what happens to Nan and her beloved char after they’re discovered and face real trials. This is just a delightful and beautifully written story with just the right amount of suspense – evocative of a Dickens novel. (New Hampshire Great Stone Face Book Award nominee, 2020) Booktalk #3 Nan, a young chimney climber in Victorian London, has to carry on without her protector the “Sweep” when he disappears, leaving behind only his hat and a small piece of coal. The coal comes to life in the form of a golem named Charlie who saves Nan from a chimney fire and continues to use his strength to protect and help others suffering from the harsh and grim realities of nineteenth century London. When Nan learns of the death of a special young chimney climber, she involves Charlie and her friend Toby, a Jewish refugee, and Miss Bloom, a teacher, to orchestrate a protest to challenge the unjust exploitation of child workers. Charlie’s unending desire to help others takes its toll. Nan realizes she must protect Charlie too and learns to save herself by saving others. Combining fantasy, history and Jewish folklore, this is a heartwarming, funny and adventurous tale of love, friendship and loyalty. (Dorothy Canfield Fisher Book Award 2019 - 2020) Booktalk #4 Nan is a chimney sweep who finds herself orphaned with nothing but a lump of coal to remind her of the man known only as Sweep who used to take care of her. However, after a near fatal incident in a chimney, the lump of coal comes to life. The golem, whom she nicknames Charlie, becomes a great companion to Nan as she tries to make her way in a hostile world and avoid Crudd, the heinous man who acted as her former employer. She’ll need the help of a street-wise boy and a society lady if she wants to escape her fate and improve the lives of her fellow sweeps. (Oklahoma Sequoyah Book Awards, 2020) Booktalk #5 Orphans don’t have many options in Victorian England, especially girls, and Nan is both an orphan and a girl. To earn her living, Nan is a chimney sweep and must often climb up in chimneys to clean them. Being a chimney sweep is hard, dangerous work, but Nan is one of the best. Then one day, she is caught up in a sweep’s worst nightmare: the chimney that she is in catches on fire. Nan is sure she is a goner, but she later wakes up in an attic...and she is not alone! Find out more about who saved Nan and what the monster is in Sweep: The Story of a Girl and Her Monster. (Oklahoma Sequoyah Book Awards, 2020)
	SUBJECTS: Great Britain -- History -- 19th century -- Fiction. Golem -- Fiction Chimney sweeps -- Fiction. Homeless persons -- Fiction. Orphans -- Fiction. Fantasy fiction.

Auxier, Jonathan.
SWEEP : THE STORY OF A GIRL AND HER MONSTER
New York : Amulet, 2018
IL 5-8
ISBN 9781419731402

(5 booktalks)

Click on the book to read Amazon reviews

Booktalk #1

Working for a cruel man named Wilkie Crudd or The Clean Sweep, eleven-year-old Nan Sparrow is known as one of the best chimney sweeps in London during the late 1800s. Most of the other sweeps love to hear the stories that Nan likes to tell, but as she continues to grow, it becomes harder for her to clean inside the chimney. One day she finds herself in a difficult situation while cleaning a chimney and she will get to see just how important the item is that her guardian left her. Nan later discovers that the char is a soot golem to look after her. How can Nan help other children forced to work in unsafe chimneys when she is struggling herself to get by? Sweep: The Story of a Girl and Her Monster received the 2019 Sydney Taylor Book Award for Older Readers. (Pennsylvania Young Reader’s Choice Award 2019-2020)

Booktalk #2

Auxier’s masterfully woven historical fiction novel wraps in elements of Jewish mythology and magical realism to create the rich and beautiful story of Nan Sparrow. Raised by a chimney sweep, when he disappears and leaves her only a piece of charcoal – her “char”, Nan has to take up with the child-hating Wilkie Crudd who rules the sweep business and employs children to do this hard and dirty work. When a fellow sweep uses the feared “Devil’s Nudge” method to get her out of a chimney, a huge fire ensues in which Nan should have died – could it have been her char that saves her? When she unravels the true meaning of the char, Charlie is born – a Golem made from the very soot and ash she’s been using to keep warm at night. Letting Crudd believe she died in the fire, Nan and Charlie embark on a life together, but it’s tricky to keep both she and her Golem safe and hidden. You’ll be swept up (pun intended) into this Victorian era story of charm and ultimately of love. Multi-layered characters add to the believability of this heart-warming story, and you’ll want to find out what happens to Nan and her beloved char after they’re discovered and face real trials. This is just a delightful and beautifully written story with just the right amount of suspense – evocative of a Dickens novel. (New Hampshire Great Stone Face Book Award nominee, 2020)

Booktalk #3

Nan, a young chimney climber in Victorian London, has to carry on without her protector the “Sweep” when he disappears, leaving behind only his hat and a small piece of coal. The coal comes to life in the form of a golem named Charlie who saves Nan from a chimney fire and continues to use his strength to protect and help others suffering from the harsh and grim realities of nineteenth century London. When Nan learns of the death of a special young chimney climber, she involves Charlie and her friend Toby, a Jewish refugee, and Miss Bloom, a teacher, to orchestrate a protest to challenge the unjust exploitation of child workers. Charlie’s unending desire to help others takes its toll. Nan realizes she must protect Charlie too and learns to save herself by saving others. Combining fantasy, history and Jewish folklore, this is a heartwarming, funny and adventurous tale of love, friendship and loyalty. (Dorothy Canfield Fisher Book Award 2019 - 2020)

Booktalk #4

Nan is a chimney sweep who finds herself orphaned with nothing but a lump of coal to remind her of the man known only as Sweep who used to take care of her. However, after a near fatal incident in a chimney, the lump of coal comes to life. The golem, whom she nicknames Charlie, becomes a great companion to Nan as she tries to make her way in a hostile world and avoid Crudd, the heinous man who acted as her former employer. She’ll need the help of a street-wise boy and a society lady if she wants to escape her fate and improve the lives of her fellow sweeps. (Oklahoma Sequoyah Book Awards, 2020)

Booktalk #5

Orphans don’t have many options in Victorian England, especially girls, and Nan is both an orphan and a girl. To earn her living, Nan is a chimney sweep and must often climb up in chimneys to clean them. Being a chimney sweep is hard, dangerous work, but Nan is one of the best. Then one day, she is caught up in a sweep’s worst nightmare: the chimney that she is in catches on fire. Nan is sure she is a goner, but she later wakes up in an attic...and she is not alone! Find out more about who saved Nan and what the monster is in Sweep: The Story of a Girl and Her Monster.
(Oklahoma Sequoyah Book Awards, 2020)

SUBJECTS:   Great Britain -- History -- 19th century -- Fiction.
                        Golem -- Fiction
                        Chimney sweeps -- Fiction.
                        Homeless persons -- Fiction.
                        Orphans -- Fiction.
                        Fantasy fiction.