Junebug and the Reverend
Written by Alice Mead
Narrated by JD Jackson
3.5/5
()
About this audiobook
Alice Mead
A children's writer has the unusual task of developing a unique voice coupled with evoking the so-called magic of childhood. But is childhood truly a magical kingdom? I do know that childhood is a time so deeply and purely felt that adulthood can rarely match it. It is a time of great heroism, dashed hopes, leaps of joy, steadfast friendships, explosive frustration, utter hilarity, the shame of betrayal. Certain smells, certain words elicit powerful memories of childhood. For me, the smell of boiled brussels sprouts even now makes me feel utter revulsion. The smell of ethyl alcohol and the words "tetanus booster"cause sheer terror. The clap of an old, dusty book snapped shut and the words "hidden staircase" fill me with wonder. Where? Where? Tell me! How could I not write about childhood? When I was seven and eight, my family lived in postwar England, in an industrial Yorkshire city that still showed the devastation of World War II and the Nazi bombings. This left a lasting impression on me. The journey there, by ocean liner across the Atlantic, and my later poking about deserted misty castles and the dank Yorkshire moors, and smelling pungent coal fires, all created an unusual and not always pleasant adventure filled with questions. Was Robin Hood real? Was that truly King Arthur's castle? And had I really snapped a photo of the Loch Ness monster? The long, snaky streak still shows plainly in my faded photo. Back in the United States, I grew up during the Cold War, at the height of the nuclear arms race. I studied Russian for six years, or tried to, endlessly curious about the countries behind the Iron Curtain. And when I was eighteen, there was the Vietnam War. There were antiwar protests, Woodstock, flower children. I went to a Quaker college. I wanted to major in art, but there was no art department, so I majored in English. I started attending Quaker meetings. One summer, when I was twenty, I worked as an art counselor at a Fresh Air camp for inner-city kids. Watching their sheer delight in using paint and clay, I was hooked. I became an art teacher. I felt privileged to be with kids, to make my classroom a safe place where they could explore their own creativity. In the meantime, I married and had two sons, both of whom are now in college. One is studying economics and one physics. My husband and I have two dogs, and used to have the occasional rabbit, chameleon, hamster, and goldfish as visitors. My life was going along smoothly until I was forced to leave teaching because of a chronic illness. I had to rest a lot. That gave me time to work harder on my writing. I began writing a storybook about nature called "Tales of the Maine Woods." Although editors seemed to like the stories, they weren't willing to publish them. Eventually I gave the stories a grandmother, and then I gave the grandmother a granddaughter named Rayanne. Two of those original tales are part of my first book, Crossing the Starlight Bridge. For two years I watched the war in Bosnia, formerly part of Yugoslavia. In another part of this region, one million Albanian children are among the brutally oppressed. Even under these harsh conditions, they struggle to live in peace and dignity. The family bonds in their culture are extraordinary. I wrote about these children in Adem's Cross. Each day for the past four years, I have worked to help them, and all Balkan people, regain their freedom and human rights. Recently, other Quaker values besides non-violence became more meaningful to me. These are simplicity and self-reflection. My husband and I moved to a small house near a cliff overlooking the islands in Casco Bay, Maine. I have a flower garden that my dogs like to dig up. When I am stuck writing a story, I can go and sit on the rocks and watch the water for a while, something I have enjoyed doing through my whole life. Alice Mead was born in 1952 and attended Bryn Mawr College. She received a master's degree in education, and later a B.S. in art education. She founded two preschools for mainstreaming handicapped preschoolers, and taught art at the junior-high-school level for a number of years. She played the flute and piccolo for twenty-eight years, and now she paints, and enjoys gardening and writing--especially about a little boy named Junebug.
More audiobooks from Alice Mead
Girl of Kosovo Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Related to Junebug and the Reverend
Titles in the series (2)
Junebug Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Junebug and the Reverend Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Related audiobooks
The Case of the Strange Splash Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsNormal: A Mother and Her Beautiful Son Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFig Pudding Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Kinda Like Grace: A Homeless Man, a Broken Woman, and the Decision That Made Them Family Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Golden Spirit Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Desperado Who Stole Baseball Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Claudia Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5EllRay Jakes Is a Rock Star! Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Jack and the Fantastical Circus Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Junebug Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Buddies, Bullies, and Baseball Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsIrrational Fear Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWhere's Your Jesus Now? Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Once More to the Rodeo: A Memoir Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Why Did God Give My Kids Free Will?: He Could’ve Waited until They Moved Out Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDon't Call Me Clyde!: Jazz Journey of a Sixties Stomper Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPrincess Posey and the Perfect Present Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSophie Washington: Queen of the Bee: Sophie Washington, Book One Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsGaby, Lost and Found Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Confessions from the Principal's Kid Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsStanding at the Water's Edge: A Cancer Nurse, Her Four-Year-Old Son and the Shifting Tides of Leukemia Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsRare Bird: A Memoir of Loss and Love Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Competition Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsNot My Boy!: A Father, a Son, and One Family's Journey with Autism Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5EllRay Jakes Stands Tall! Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHorrible Harry and the Locked Closet Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Peace Is a Chain Reaction Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHope Runs: An American Tourist, a Kenyan Boy, a Journey of Redemption Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Children's Social Themes For You
Days With Frog and Toad Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Smart Cookie Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Good Egg Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Talons of Power (Wings of Fire #9) Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Winnie-the-Pooh Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A Bad Case of Stripes Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Adventures of Captain Underpants: Color Edition (Captain Underpants #1): Captain Underpants, Book 1 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Dragonet Prophecy: Wings of Fire, Book 1 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Bad Seed Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Frog and Toad Together Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Winter Turning (Wings of Fire #7) Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Happiness Trap: How to Stop Struggling and Start Living Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The School for Good and Evil: Now a Netflix Originals Movie Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The School for Good and Evil #2: A World without Princes: Now a Netflix Originals Movie Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Darkstalker: Wings of Fire: Legends, Book 1 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Sour Grape Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Harold & The Purple Crayon Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5New Kid Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Pax Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Out of My Mind Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Wish Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Narcissism: How to Beat the Narcissist Understanding Narcissism and Narcissistic Personality Disorder Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The One and Only Ivan Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Unteachables Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Chrysanthemum Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Bridge to Terabithia Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5What Happened to Rachel Riley? Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Captive Kingdom Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
Reviews for Junebug and the Reverend
2 ratings0 reviews