Books | Tending to Grace

Lenore is Cornelia’s mother—and Cornelia’s fix-up project. What does it matter that Cornelia won’t talk to anyone and is always stuck in the easiest English class at school, even though she’s read more books than anyone else? She feels strong in the fixing. She cooks vegetable soup so Lenore will eat something other than Ring Dings; she lures her out of bed with strong coffee and waffles. She looks after the house when Lenore won’t get out of bed at all.

So when Lenore and her boyfriend take off for Vegas leaving Cornelia behind with eccentric Aunt Agatha, all Cornelia can do is wait for her to come back. Aunt Agatha sure doesn’t want any fixing.

Maybe this time it’s Cornelia who could use it?

Reviews

Awarded the American Library Association’s Schneider Family Book Award for its empathetic portrayal of a young girl who stutters.

- American Library Association

“A stunning story”

- The Denver Post

ê  “Like Katherine Paterson’s classic The Great Gilly Hopkins…this quiet, beautiful first novel makes the search for home a searing drama.”

- Booklist, (Starred Review)

ê  “Poetically portrays the human potential to fly.”

- School Library Journal, (Starred Review)

“Sinuous and lithe... powerfully conveying a range of heartrendingly real emotions.”

- Publishers Weekly

“It is Fusco’s triumph to make what could have been a sticky-sweet narrative into a tart and dry-eyed tale of grace and personal salvation.”

- The Providence Journal

Tending to Grace

Awarded the American Library Association’s Schneider Family Book Award

“Like Katherine Paterson’s classic The Great Gilly Hopkins…this quiet, beautiful first novel makes the search for home a searing drama.”

Booklist, Starred Review