Book Giveaway: CATCH ME WHEN I FALL by Bonnie B. Graves

Author Bonnie Graves has a new middle grade book titled, CATCH ME WHEN I FALL. Bonnie has agreed to share a book with one lucky winner. All you have to do to get in the running is to leave a comment. Reblog, tweet, or talk about it on Facebook with a link and you will get additional chances to win. Just let me know the other things you do to share the good news, so I can put in the right amount of tickets in my basket for you.

Sharing on Facebook, Twitter, reblogging really helps spread the word for a new book. Thanks for helping Bonnie!

BOOK DESCRIPTION:

The first time a child attends a circus is an experience they will never forgot. The smell of the salted peanuts, the sparkling costumes of the trapeze artists, the sound of the lion roar, and the screams of laughter when the clowns take the stage bring forth images of youth and American history.

In her endearing and creative read, Bonnie Graves introduces readers to a spunky, red-head named Emma who has one mission: to find her father. Emma lives in 1930s Wisconsin with her hard-working mother, boy cousins and grandpa. One day she discovers a picture in her mother’s dresser.  Could it be her father?

Later, when the circus comes to town, Emma makes a startling discovery that may change her life forever. She suddenly has one purpose:  to see the circus performance and discover her true identity.

Set in Racine, Wisconsin during the Great Depression, Catch Me When I Fall is the story of one gutsy twelve-year-old girl’s quest to learn the identity of her father, the father her mother refuses to talk about. What’s the big secret? When Emma finds a photograph hidden in her mother’s bureau AND spots a circus poster featuring Filippo the Flying Wonder, she believes she’s stumbled on the truth. The aerialist’s resemblance to the man in the secret photo is too close to be coincidence. Rebelling against her mother’s warning not to go near the circus, Emma disguises herself as a boy and lands a job with the circus, determined to unravel the dark mystery that haunts her. It is here, amidst the sawdust and illusions of circus life, that Emma makes discoveries about her past that ultimately help her accept herself for who she truly is.

BOOK JOURNEY:

Catch Me When I Fall is the story of a 12-year-old Emma Monroe’s quest to find the father she never knew, the father her mother refuses to talk about. When Emma finds a photograph hidden in her mother’s bureau AND spots a circus poster featuring Filippo the Flying Wonder, she believes she’s stumbled on the truth. The aerialist’s resemblance to the man in the secret photo is too close to be coincidence. Rebelling against her Mother’s warning not to go near the circus, Emma disguises herself as a boy and lands a job with the circus, determined to unravel the dark mystery that haunts her. It is here, amidst the sawdust and illusions of circus life, that Emma makes discoveries about her past that ultimately help her accept herself for who she truly is.

The spark of an idea for Catch Me When I Fall came from an uncle’s memoir about his experiences as a young boy watering the elephants for a traveling circus in hopes of earning a ticket to the Big Show. The anecdote was so rich in detail and humor it just begged to become a story. I didn’t feel I could write it from a boy’s point of view, the way my uncle had, so I needed a heroine, someone brave enough to dress as a boy to get a circus job, someone who desperately needed that circus job. That someone turned out to be 12-year-old Emma Monroe, a spunky red-head, who’s determined to learn the identity of her father, the man her mother refuses to talk about. Much about Emma and her mother I drew from my own childhood. When I was nine, my father drove our family—my mom and two siblings—out to California to his brother’s family where he left us–and returned to Wisconsin–to be with his lover. He was never spoken of again, by anyone. It was as if he’d never existed. My siblings and I all knew that speaking his name was taboo, forbidden and even, to a kid, dangerous. So, I suppose, in a way, writing the story was an exploration of this childhood trauma, one that had rewriting the story was an exploration of this childhood trauma, one that had remained forever in the shadows. Emma’s story, in a way, would help bring it into the light.

BONNIE’S BIO:

Bonnie Graves is the author of dozens of children’s books, both fiction and non-fiction, and professional books on teaching reading, She has spent her growing-up years in Wisconsin and Southern California. A former elementary school teacher, Bonnie’s work has been honored with Work-in-Progress grants from the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators and the Minnesota Arts Board, first place in literary contests sponsored by the Loft Literary Center and also the Pacific Northwest Writers Association, and her chapter book, Taking Care of Trouble, received a South Carolina Children’s Choice Award. She currently lives in Bloomington, Minnesota.

Thank you Bonnie for sharing your book and its’ journey with us. Circus stories are very big right now. Good Luck! Click here to read an excerpt.

Talk tomorrow,

Kathy