The Strange Night Writing of Jessamine Colter (An Avon Camelot Book) - Softcover

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.

Sixteen-year-old Callie apprentices herself to an elderly calligrapher who can see the future; PW called this brief novel "delicately structured and exquisitely told." Ages 8-12.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.