Alana White

Some Reviews

Horn Book Magazine: “This finely crafted first novel engagingly depicts early adolescent feelings. All the events in the story occur between the first day of school and Christmas, in a year when Salina Harris moves beyond her concerns for popularity to an unfolding friendship with Scooter Russell, an unwelcome new-comer. . . .It is well paced, building to a dramatic climax; it creates a strong sense of time and place; and the novel includes a likable cast of characters and even a romance.”

School Library Journal: “Salina is a wonderfully drawn character (who), with the help of loving parents and a teacher who challenges her to see a larger picture, realizes that change is inevitable, and that she will be able to accept it.”

ALA Booklist Starred Review: “. . . .A story as intricately patterned and multicolored as a practical, quilted coat—one that will warm readers, too.”

Kirkus: “An evocative first novel. . . .the message is rounded out with lively characters, period details, and the sustained use of Salina’s childlike point of view.”

Publishers’ Weekly: “This smoothly written narrative offers realistic characterizations and a perceptive glimpse of small-town life. Readers. . . .will be moved by the novel’s many tender moments.”