SING A SONG OF TUNA FISH

Codell’s memoir is a celebration of the people, places and moments of her Chicago childhood, a fond reflection upon “what it was like to be a child” in her place, in her time. More than just her story, though, it is meant to be a model for readers and listeners, who are encouraged to pay attention to their lives and relish the little things that become memories. Richly detailed chapters on her neighborhood, a mammoth snowstorm, school life, grandparents, love and religion make for fine reading aloud and superb models for young writers. Each section begins, “Let me tell you something about,” and readers are swept into a ten-year-old’s urban world to witness mother and daughter egging an illegally parked car, a little brother swallowed up by the snow, Esmé begging a friend to beat her up so she won’t have to go to piano lessons, men at the basketball hoop, “brown arms gathering underneath like stems reaching for the same orange flower.” Her enchanting, evocative writing inspires readers to see the wonder and magic in their ordinary lives, and maybe smile to themselves. (introduction) (Nonfiction. 9+)