Growing Up & Facts of Life
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Stacey’s Extraordinary Words
The debut picture book from iconic voting rights advocate and #1 New York Times bestselling author Stacey Abrams is an inspiring tale of determination, based on her own childhood.
Stacey is a little girl who loves words more than anything. She loves reading them, sounding them out, and finding comfort in them when things are hard.
But when her teacher chooses her to compete in the local spelling bee, she isn't as excited as she thought she'd be. What if she messes up? Or worse, if she can't bring herself to speak up, like sometimes happens when facing bullies at school?
Stacey will learn that win or lose . . . her words are powerful, and sometimes perseverance is the most important word of all.
Stacey is a little girl who loves words more than anything. She loves reading them, sounding them out, and finding comfort in them when things are hard.
But when her teacher chooses her to compete in the local spelling bee, she isn't as excited as she thought she'd be. What if she messes up? Or worse, if she can't bring herself to speak up, like sometimes happens when facing bullies at school?
Stacey will learn that win or lose . . . her words are powerful, and sometimes perseverance is the most important word of all.
Editorial Reviews
"Abrams shares her love of words in this picture book drawn from a childhood memory. Readers will see the beginnings of a lifelong fascination with words, as well as the passion for fighting for others. A great addition for collections looking for stories about current political figures, as well as story time with a biography emphasis." -- School Library Journal (starred review)
"This engaging, edifying, delightfully nerdy childhood retrospective from one of today's inspirational leaders speaks volumes." -- Kirkus Reviews
"With warmth and candor, politician and voting rights activist Abrams tells a fictionalized story of her first spelling bee, emphasizing the value of education, of focusing on effort over result, and of standing up to bullying. In competition, Abrams reminds readers, victory can take years to arrive-and integrity and courtesy are always more important." -- Publishers Weekly
"This engaging, edifying, delightfully nerdy childhood retrospective from one of today's inspirational leaders speaks volumes." -- Kirkus Reviews
"With warmth and candor, politician and voting rights activist Abrams tells a fictionalized story of her first spelling bee, emphasizing the value of education, of focusing on effort over result, and of standing up to bullying. In competition, Abrams reminds readers, victory can take years to arrive-and integrity and courtesy are always more important." -- Publishers Weekly
Readers Top Reviews
Dawn ThomasChad Beck
Excited to share this extraordinary book with the children in our life. Thank you for writing this, Ms. Abrams.
This is a PERFECT BOOK! Get it for all the kids you love! I am picky but can find nothing wrong with this book! I am about to order copies number 7 and 8 right now!!!!!
benji
Pre-ordered this to see what Abrams had penned. She had already earned my respect and my vote for her political work and advocacy. This book is a beautiful story of perseverance and the power of our words and actions. And as a total spelling bee nerd, this subject was right up my alley! I read it and passed it along to my elementary school teaching cousin! I hope that many others will read it. I love that there is a glossary in the back that defines some of the words.
Natasha
I read this book to my children last night. They enjoyed it so much we read it twice!! It’s such an authentic story and it really resonated with the kids and myself. It’s beautifully written with so many wonderful words and my kids loved the glossary at the end. The illustrations are fantastic and capture the emotion so well. I hope Ms. Abrams writes more Children’s books!!
C
This book tells the story of Stacey, a precocious little girl in elementary school that loves learning about new words. Stacey's fascination with unusual words pays off when she is selected to take part in a spelling bee. She has to overcome her nerves, and also face a mean bully, and she still manages to learn a few things along the way. One of our favorite things about this book, is that the author uses some more advanced words in the course of the story, but then also defines them; so that younger readers can actually learn a few new words themselves while reading this book. At the end of the book there is an Author's Note section, where Abrams describes some events from her own childhood, and how her love of words shaped her experiences. The last few pages contain “Stacey's Notebook of Extraordinary Words”, which is a glossary of sorts, containing some of the more advanced words from this book. Overall we really enjoyed this book. There are great positive messages about perseverance, being courteous to other people, and excitement about learning new words. The kids enjoyed learning the meaning of a few new words themselves, while reading this story about a fellow vocabulary-enthusiast. The art is also beautiful, with a sort of watercolor style that really adds to the story.
