A Home for Goddesses and Dogs by Leslie Connor; Katherine Tegen Books/HarperCollins, 2020.

 

A Home for Goddesses and Dogs is one of those stories that holds you in its capable arms and wraps you in its goodness. Books such as this one reinforce why I prefer reading kids’ novels over those written for adults. This story for middle-graders is impeccably crafted; there’s such care in the writing, skill in the rendering of authentic characters, and art in the measured unspooling of their journey. A Home for Goddesses and Dogs is a joy to read and share.

 

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“Families are the compass that guides us.”—Brad Henry

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Why this Book? Why will it matter to kids?

 

So many examples of growth are exemplified by Lydia’s actions as she grieves the loss of her mother. So much bravery and strength of character are expertly woven into this emotionally bruised yet spunky thirteen year-old who is navigating the year following her mother’s death. In this stand-out novel, we are ushered inside the warm and welcoming home of Lydia’s aunt and her partner, and the octogenarian who owns the property and for whom they care. We meet their dogs–one docile and fragile, one daring and inscrutable. We encounter a group of schoolmates who are refreshingly kind, generous, and inclusive. Lydia’s internal struggles become all the more memorable because the backdrop of this novel is endearingly magnetic.

Grade level: Grades 5-8

Social-Emotional Learning Themes

Courage, empathy, compassion, tenacity, perseverance, persistence, creativity, inspiration, encouragement, acceptance, perspective, self-reliance, respect, effort, understanding, connection, self-assurance, dedication, resourcefulness, self-awareness, diligence, fortitude, integrity, justice, trustworthiness, loyalty , empowerment, generosity of spirit, humility

 

Content Area Connections

English Language Arts, Art, Science

Using This Book in the Classroom

Hit the Ground Running

Ready Resources for Educators, Homeschoolers, and Parents

A book talk and discussion guide for A Home for Goddesses and Dogs along with other “Great Picks for Your Middle Grade Book Clubs” can be found here.

“How Pets Can Help with Grieving” article written by Leslie can be found here.

Leslie answers this question submitted by a student: “How do you get your brain ready to write?” on children’s author and illustrator Grace Lin’s Kids Ask Authors website here.

Read Leslie’s May 1, 2020 guest post regarding A Home for Goddesses and Dogs on Kirby Larson’s Friend Friday blog, where each week Kirby invites a fellow book creator to share a reflection in celebration of a new release.

Listen to the Writing for Children podcast, “Digging into Character Development” featuring Leslie here.

Write Away!

Ideas to prompt writing

A Home for Goddesses and Dogs offers readers a inspirational view of classmates who respect and support one another. They are gentle. They possess a sense of place and self, a sense of humor, and a shared history. In her research for the novel, Leslie met with an entire eighth-grade class (all twelve of them!) in Eastford, a tiny town in Connecticut. She says, “I listened to them talk about how close and devoted they felt, how they had one another’s backs, and what they were looking forward to. I will never forget their generosity. ” Ask students to write what they would say about their peers if they were part of that conversation with the author.

The idea for the plot of A Home for Goddesses and Dogs grew in part from the author’s experiences with an adopted dog who mistrusted humans. Leslie says, “I began to journal his behaviors…to imagine a backstory for him.” Ask students to create a backstory for one of their pets or an animal they know.

Ask students to create a fictional character. Make a list of key characteristics. Write the character’s backstory.

Encourage students to keep a journal. Two bound journals sure to spark writing are: The Wonder Journal (Knopf), and Who Is_______? The Story of My Life: A Journal for You, by You! (Grosset & Dunlap).

Leslie says, “The Goddesses, are metaphors for the joys and losses Lydia and her mother experienced. Once Lydia’s mother is gone, they essentially contain that tiny family’s history.” Ask students to write about something that reflects their family’s history, or to write about an object that holds special meaning for them.

 

 

Poetry Break
Related poetry to recite before or following the reading of this book

Poetry breaks fit perfectly into brief moments in the day—from opening or closing the daily morning meeting to lining up for lunch; from zipping up backpacks and jackets to transitioning from one subject to the next. Reading a poem typically takes less than a minute, yet it can introduce or reinforce a concept, celebrate language, exemplify rhythm, enhance vocabulary, expand understanding, increase attention span, initiate reflection, or summon a giggle. And, poetry soothes the spirit.

• Bark in the Park! Poems for Dog Lovers by Avery Corman, illustrated by Hyewon Yum
• Dictionary For A Better World: Poems, Quotes, and Anecdotes from A to Z by Irene Latham and Charles Waters, illustrated by Mehrdokht Amini
• Dogku by Andrew Clements, illustrated by Tim Bowers
• God Got a Dog by Cynthia Rylant, illustrated by Marla Frazee
• I Am Loved by Nikki Giovanni, illustrated by Ashley Bryan
• What the Heart Knows: Chants, Charms & Blessings by Joyce Sidman, illustrated by Pamela Zagarenski
• Words with Wings by Nikki Grimes (novel in verse)

 

And Then There’s This…
Enrichment activities, related books, online resources, craft projects, and ideas for further study

A key element in A Home for Goddesses and Dogs is the collection of handmade goddesses that Lydia created with her mother and now fiercely guards and treasures. Leslie suggests, “There’s the opportunity to make and write about a Goddess and grow a personal narrative from the project.” She recalls, “My best-loved stories inspired me to create. I replicated characters in clay, and cloth, and wrote poems about them. I was the ‘diorama’ kid. While the hands are working the brain continues to ruminate. The reader starts thinking like a writer, perhaps asking, what comes next?”

Leslie offers additional suggestions for discussion related to A Home for Goddesses and Dogs in the interview, below.

Meet the Author

 

Photo credit: Ashley Abel

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Leslie Connor has always been a daydreamer with a headful of stories waiting to be told. (It took her awhile to figure that out.) She holds a BFA in visual art from the University of Connecticut and is happily surprised to be writing today. Leslie is the author of the middle grade novels, Waiting for Normal, winner of the ALA Schneider Family Book Award; All Rise for the Honorable Perry T. Cook, An E.B White Read Aloud finalist; and The Truth as Told by Mason Buttle, finalist for the National Book Award and winner of the ALA Schneider Family Book Award. Her most recent title is, A Home for Goddesses and Dogs (February, 2020). Leslie lives with her husband and three rescue dogs in a little house in the Connecticut woods. www.leslieconnor.com/; Twitter: @LeslieConnor29; IG: heyleslieconnor

 

 

Backstory: Q & A with Leslie Connor

Leslie generously gave of her time to respond to a few questions about the creation of A Home for Goddesses and Dogs and her writing career.

Judy Bradbury: How did you come to write A Home for Goddesses and Dogs? What kernel seeded its creation?

Leslie Connor: I love the way you ask this question! This is exactly how story-making works for me; a seed idea plants itself—some little thing that I can’t ignore. For A Home for Goddesses and Dogs, that kernel was my experience with dog ownership. Years ago, we adopted a dog who displayed a heartbreaking mistrust of humans that hinted at a dark past. I began to journal his behaviors—desperate to decode him, I suppose—and the writer in me began to imagine a backstory for him. Then I began to think about a human character, with a backstory of her own. What if they arrive to the same new home within days of each other?

JB: Tell about one hurdle you experienced in the creation of A Home for Goddesses and Dogs or provide a memorable (or humorous!) anecdote related to the making of this book.

LC: Ugh! Somehow, the first draft of this novel became very long! (Naughty writing faeries typing through the night…) With my brilliant editor’s help, I cut thousands of words.

Something funny: one prepublication reader asked if there could be about 15 % less “dog pee” in the story. (Done!)

JB: At the heart of this story are so many levels of nurturing relationships shared by Lydia: with her mom, with the intergenerational family she moves in with after her mother’s death; with their dogs; and with her new classmates. We witness Lydia’s growth and healing as she moves through her grief. Courage and strength are expertly—and authentically—exemplified by the characters’ actions and words. Tell how you came to structure the novel and its use of objects as metaphor.

LC: First, thank you, Judy. Second, that’s rather a lot going on, isn’t it? (Maybe that’s why the manuscript initially ran so long!)

I needed to balance Lydia’s transition to her new home (house, family, school, friends, animals) with her need to grieve. How does one move on in a new place, when, by its nature, grief ties us to the past?

The big yellow dog, with his unknown history, mirrors Lydia, who arrives unready to share the details of her past. They are both marked; both will need to learn to open their hearts.

The Goddesses are, of course, metaphors for the joys and losses Lydia and her mother experienced. They assume a somewhat different role once her mother is gone, in that they essentially contain that tiny family’s history. The dusty, cold crawl space in the house became a sacred, tomb-like home for the goddesses—a place Lydia could be patient with herself and cocoon with her grief; that space was never physically comfortable, but it was comforting.

JB: What did you learn from creating A Home for Goddesses and Dogs?

LC: More about grief than I had ever understood or acknowledged. Grief has weighty layers, and no time table. It requires patience and acceptance. We don’t just ache for the person we lost; we grieve the death of the future we saw for ourselves. 

JB: What would surprise readers to learn about you or about the creation of A Home for Goddesses and Dogs?

LC: Honestly, I never set out to be a writer. I am surprised to be doing this work. Although I always wrote—in secret—and daydreamed about story even more often, this career, which I adore, was not a part of my educational plan. I studied visual art.

JB: What do you hope readers will take away from A Home for Goddesses and Dogs?

LC: Ha! I always hesitate at this question because so much depends upon what a reader brings to the experience. Perhaps this: There are places and humans and creatures in life that are seemingly unlovable. But if we open our hearts, we stand a good chance of learning to love them unconditionally. Often, they will unconditionally return that love.

JB: How do you see A Home for Goddesses and Dogs connecting to curriculum?

LC: Teachers are much better at this than I am! I’m not dialed into curriculum as I write. That said, discussions can center on these issues: there’s an adult bully in the story, which is an intensely difficult issue for a child; the difference between keeping secrets vs. simply not telling; empathy for the new kid; compassion for the creatures we share this planet with; the changing shape of families in the U.S.; LGBT family members; women supporting women.

JB: What’s next?

LC: Another middle grade novel! Set in the state of Maine, the story is about best friends—one a boisterous “rockhound” (gem hunter), the other, a non-verbal bird enthusiast. They’ve been like two clams in one shell but as they enter sixth grade, the tug of a new social situation threatens to separate them—for a very special reason.

JB: What is one question you wish I had asked, and what is your answer?

LC: If you met your main character on the street today, what would you say to them?

Answer: Lydia Bratches Kemp, that was a really hard story. I admire you. You did well!

About the Illustrator

A Home for Goddesses and Dogs jacket art by Julie McLaughlin. Visit her here.

 

 

 

Book Giveaway

Last month’s winner of Tag Your Dreams by Jacqueline Jules and Iris Deppe shared this:

Yesterday I got to open the box with a copy of Tag Your Dreams inside it.

My thanks for you and Jacqueline Jules. 

My favorite poem beyond the title poem, which I very much admire, was the one about the girl trying out for the soccer team. I loved the ending where she’s reached her personal goals of getting the coach to notice her, something she didn’t think had happened the year before. I like that we don’t know if the girl actually makes the team or not. The nice thing is that it doesn’t matter because she scored a victory in other ways.

What a treat to receive such an active book during these more sedentary times of the quarantine. 

Find the post on Tag Your Dreams here.

Due to COVID-19, the monthly book giveaway awarded to a randomly selected subscriber who comments on the post is temporarily suspended.

In its place, let me introduce Over to You… a new monthly feature in which I will pose a question related to the post and invite subscribers to join the conversation. Please continue to share your comments with the Children’s Book Corner blog community!

Over to You…

Join the conversation! Offer your thoughts on the featured question related to this month’s post. You are also always welcome to post a general comment.

What recently published middle grade novel would you recommend? Share the title and author of the book in the comments section, and briefly tell why it makes your list.

News & Updates

Children’s authors and illustrators have generously shared their gifts of time and talent during this unprecedented circumstance with lessons, read-alouds, and more. Author Kate Messner has magnanimously compiled an impressive list. Find it here.

Listen to a host of favorite kids’ lit folks on the Everywhere Book Fest, a virtual book festival bonanza that brought authors, illustrators, and readers together in celebration of books on May 1 and 2. Sessions featured picture book, middle grade, and young adult books, and included a keynote by Gene Luen Yang; talks by Jason Reynolds, Jacqueline Woodson, and Meg Medina; panels on STEM books, historical fiction, graphic novels, magic vs. science, and more. The sessions currently remain available for viewing. The Everywhere Book Fest partners with local bookstores and offers a handy map on the site. Shop your local indies!