Chapters Hosts Authors of Young-Adult Books
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Chapters Bookstore welcomes Stacey DeKeyser and M.P. Barker for at Valentine's Day "KidsHeartAuthors Experience."DeKeyser is the author of fiction and nonfiction for young adults and middle-graders. In her new book, "Jump the Cracks," a 15-year-old girl is accused of kidnapping when she finds an abandoned child on a train and then hides him from his abusive father.
Soon she's on a cross-country journey with the boy, as each "right" decision gets her deeper into trouble — and farther away from home. Victoria has vowed to protect the little boy no matter what. But can she keep that promise? The book has fast-paced suspense about a determined girl who becomes both rescuer and abductor of a child at risk.
Set in Western Massachusetts in 1839, "A Difficult Boy," by Barker, tells the story of two young indentured servants — one of them Irish — who must overcome their differences to outwit their abusive master and win their freedom. Writing the book allowed Barker to combine her childhood dreams of becoming a novelist and owning a horse with her grown-up jobs as an archivist and historian. Although she never did get that dream horse, she got to invent one in Ivy, the mare taken care of by her characters.
Both authors will be available for a meet and greet between 10 and noon on Saturday, Feb. 14. Light refreshments will be served.
