My Father's Summers: A Daughter's Memoir

"We saved things for him. My sister Patti saved whatever she could hold in her palm-rocks, pennies, bottle caps. With the pennies she planned to save enough to buy a plane ticket to go see him. How many pennies would it take? Photographs, report cards, jokes, songs, stories, we even saved Christmas. Long after my mother took down the tree, his gifts sat in the corner of the living room." A beautifully crafted memoir from acclaimed author Kathi Appelt Told in a series of eloquent prose poems, My Father's Summers is Kathi Appelt's memoir of coming-of-age in Houston, Texas. Without a wasted word, she recalls her faraway father, who is first halfway across the world in Arabia and then across town living a new life. For Kathi and her sisters, there are unknown stepbrothers, a stepmother who drinks gin and tonic for breakfast, and a painful awareness of their mother's loneliness. By turns heartbreaking and achingly funny-through first kisses, best friends, accidental shootings, and all manner of pets-these poignant remembrances communicate the disappointment and the delight of growing up in a loving, imperfect family.

About the Author :
Kathi Appelt is the author of many books for young readers. A graduate of Texas A&M University, she teaches writing to both children and adults. She lives in College Station, Texas, with her husband and their two sons.

Review :
"In poetic prose, Appelt incisively describes longing, lies, love, and happiness and unhappiness. Many entries run but a paragraph; others go onto a second page. A few are but a line or two. All are carefully modulated for maximum emotional punch, whether the focus is on a new toy or suicide. That punch is what makes this superbly unsettling memoir most suitable for young teens. . . .The entire package is plaintive, probing and powerful.""--San Francisco Chronicle" "True to one young girl's viewpoint, the anguish and longing are also universal.""--Booklist" "[T]his memoir may resonate with readers for whom missing someone has become a permanent condition.""--Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books" "The power of this bittersweet, small volume lies in its precise limning of how a child perceives and experiences the emotions of separation, divorce and stepfamilies. Appelt only gives us her side, but it is a pure and vivid one. . . . The brief vignettes illuminate like lightening in a darkened room.""--Kirkus Reviews" "The memoir considers universal themes of growing up including crushes, friendships and love in some thought-provoking moments. . . .""--Publishers Weekly" "Nostalgia and longing waft through this spare collection of poetic vignettes. . . . Throughout the confusion of adult discord, there's a constant, the tight ties between a daughter and her father. The uplifting joys of a happy girlhood and the conflicting slide of loss are well balanced. Appelt uses historical events and black-and-white family photos to anchor the emotional timbre of her youth, and the nonlinear selections roll past like snapshots from a scrapbook. Unfolding in Houston, TX, this past might have been "anywhere USA." Appelt bridges the continent and the baby-boomer generation with heartfelt reflections.""--School Library Journal" "What gives this memoir the ring of authenticity are not only the personal details but also those that capture the time period. Appelt does it so skillfully, weaving in tidbits such as her plastic swinger Polaroid camera, the television drama Dark Shadows, skirts that must touch the floor when kneeling.""--VOYA"