The Strange Night Writing of Jessamine Colter - Hardcover

Grade 7 Up A lovely, unusual story of life, of love, and of death that is missing one main ingredient: child appeal. Jessie Colter is an elderly widow who makes her living selling eggs and doing calligraphy for local happenings, high-school diplomas, and weekly menus for her friend Jake, who owns the restaurant in her small town. Inexplicably one night, her pen takes on a mind of its own, and Jessie writes announcements and menus before she's been given the information. It is through this writing that Jessie learns that her friend Callie, a high-school senior, did not win the scholarship that would take her to college and away from her alcoholic mother, and she is able to give Callie the confidence and self-respect that the young woman needs to live her own life. In the end Jessie writes her own death notice, and then dies peacefully in her sleep. DeFelice has a natural storyteller's voice, and she writes in a poetic style that suits the story perfectly. Jessie is a wonderful character, as is Jake. However Callie, the character with whom readers will relate, is less interesting and plays a minor role. A fine adult short story, but one that will have limited appeal in collections serving young people. Trev Jones, ``School Library Journal''
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Only 51 pages long, DeFelice's novella has a wistful mood and a gently unwinding pace. Jessamine is an elderly woman who has always found pleasure in calligraphing the public posters, menus and invitations to events in her small town. Then she finds herself writing of events before they happen. She accepts and adapts to this secret gift, although she occasionally passes on her knowledge, telling the man whose obituary she writes that it is time for him to settle his affairs. Callie, a young friend who has apprenticed herself to Jessie, learns calligraphy and takes over the chronicling of the town when Jessie dies. Delicately structured and exquisitely told, this work has been unfortunately packaged; its intended audience may pass it up. Hesitant readers will like the slimness, but not the jacket painting of an old woman. But the book's brevity may turn off more thoughtful readers, who will revel in its poetic language. Ages 10-up.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.