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Kathryn enjoys visiting book club discussions. To schedule a regular phone call or one using Skype, please contact the author.
- In THE YEAR THE SWALLOWS CAME EARLY, eleven year old Eleanor "Groovy" Robinson describes her house as a piece of See’s candy, with perfect swirled chocolate on the outside, but sometimes hiding coconut flakes on the inside, all gritty and hard, like undercooked white rice. What does this mean? Is there anything in your life that is like this? What is it?
- How are the swallows, which return to San Juan Capistrano each year, symbolic of Frankie’s mother?
- Eleanor says that certain foods remind her of special people and events. In chapter thirty-seven, she says that scrambled eggs remind her of talking to her Mama while the fog rolls in, and that Luis’ tacos remind her of the swallows coming back. What foods remind you of special people or events? Why is this?
- Why is it sometimes so hard to forgive someone who has wronged you? What does Eleanor mean in chapter thirty-four when she wishes for her father to come home even after everything he’d done, when she says that her wish felt okay, and just a little bit free, like she could finally rest?
- Why is Eleanor happy when she finds out her father gave Mr. Tom his trailer when he could have sold it to pay her the money he owed her?
- In chapter twenty-seven, why does Eleanor say Mr. Tom was like a sign trying to point her in the right direction? What does she mean by this?
- Eleanor makes up menus to match different occasions. In chapter eight, she cooks fish sticks and creamed corn to get her mama to tell her the truth about her father? Make up a menu for the last day of school. What might be on a menu for the last of summer?
- Write a poem or a short story about the swallows returning to San Juan Capistrano. For more information on the swallows, see www.missionsjc.com/swallows.html.
NEWS & EVENTS
Bookpage has named The Year the Swallows Came Early as one of the Ten best middle grade novels of 2009.
The Year the Swallows Came Early has been named by Booklist as a Top Ten First Novels for Youth in 2009.
The Year the Swallows Came Early is now a California Readers Collection List selection for 2010
The Year the Swallows Came Early has been nominated by SCIBA (Southern California Independent Booksellers Association) for their annual book awards.
Kathryn is teaching a teen writing series through the Rancho Santa Margarita Public Library, located at 30902 La Promesa, RSM, CA., on Oct. 13, Nov. 10, Dec. 8, 2009, and March 9, April 13, 2010.
For more information, and to sign up, contact Julie Fiitch, Teen Librarian, at 949-458-6098.
Kathryn will join FOCAL, Friends of the Library, Los Angeles central branch library, 630 West Fifth Street, on Sunday, February 21, 2010, at 2:00pm for a reader's theater from a chapter of her book. Please join us!
Kathryn will be attending the California Reader's Luncheon in Burbank, CA, on February 27, 2010. For more information, go to:
Kathryn will be speaking at the AAUW Literary Luncheon in Laguna Beach, CA, on Saturday, March 13, 2010. For more information, go to:
MEET KATHRYN
When Kathryn was thirteen, her mother sent her to New York to visit her grandmother, who was a science fiction author. After seeing how her grandmother created the characters in her books, Kathryn decided that she, too, wanted to become a writer.