| Booktalk
#1
"Turning to stone is hard work.
First you have to let the anger climb up from deep within you and as it
turns over and over and rises up through your chest, you have to clamp
your teeth over it and push it back down. Then you sort of imagine
yourself getting real heavy, folding over onto yourself, getting thick
so nothing can reach the spot far inside that hasn't turned hard yet.
And you know that if you get it right, you're not so afraid." Cornelia
does her best to turn to stone. Her mother abandons her at the home
of a cranky old aunt. And Cornelia tries to stop feeling. And
to stop wishing for her mother to return. And to stop trying to care
about the nutty old woman she's living with.
Booktalk #2
Cornelia is an expert at “turning
to stone.” She doesn’t like to talk to anyone—they make fun of her. But,
when she goes to live with her aunt Agatha, she is forced to talk. Will
she resent Agatha for her straight-forward and honest thinking? Or will
she find that Agatha needs help too? Cornelia’s entire life will change
as she learns how to think for herself. (Prepared by: Maggie Horton, SCASL
Young Adult Book Awards) |
