Felicity Juniper Pickle is a collector of words. Not in the same way that some of us are, she is lucky enough to see words. Words surround certain people and things, and when Felicity sees them, she writes them down in her always present blue notebook. When her little sister Frannie Jo asks for a poem, Felicity can pluck them out of the air and combine them into a soothing rhyme for her.
There are two things that Felicity Pickle cannot do, however. She cannot comfortably speak those words in front of anyone, and she can't stay in one place too long. The first thing she can work on, but the second thing is all because of her Mama.
Her Mama is cursed with a wandering heart. She loads her girls up into her beat-up van and travels around with them. This last jaunt has brought the Pickles home to where Mama grew up: Midnight Gulch. Midnight Gulch used to be a magical place, but a few generations ago the magic seemingly up and left town right along with the famous Threadbare brothers.
But for Felicity, Midnight Gulch does turn out to be a magical place. First of all, she acquires her very first friend - Jonah Pickett. And Jonah, it turns out, has a secret and a bit of a magical identity as well. As he takes Felicity under his wing, she sees the things that could be -- the things that she didn't even know she was longing for as Mama shuttled them around "Per-clunkity-clunk, per-clunkity-clunk" across the country.
Natalie Lloyd has created the kind of world that readers want to jump into. This small Tennessee town should exist and feels like it does. Perfectly quirky, the characters are interwoven, layered and kind. Turns of phrase verily melt in your mouth, and beg to be read aloud. This is a heart-song book, if ever there was one.
0 Comments on A Snicker of Magic, by Natalie Lloyd as of 3/4/2014 11:42:00 AM
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I agree with your grievances! And a happy festivus to you.
Kids who will only eat five foods shouldn't bitch about you serving them the same food over and over.
Hee! Fun, MR. I'm at the inlaws and, so, have many, many grievances. But #1 amongst them would include:
Don't say you are a "soldier" and that you will do whatever you're told to do when: a) you'll do anything in your power to argue and then be late for whatever it is we're doing; and b) complain afterwards that it was a bad plan.
THIS is my mother in law and I'm about to lose MY MIND.
Here's one: mothers-in-law who give their daughters-in-law the book the "Skinny B*tch" WEIGHT LOSS GUIDE are sending a mixed message--at best. Oops, did I shout?
MR, enjoy Festivus!
Cats who live to be 20 should be grateful for the grooming help given by their human -- specifically, clean ears and clean toenails. (We've given up on brushing teeth...)
Oi! I'm with you, Mother Reader. Hotels as well as AIRLINES should not raise prices to six times the cost just because it's a holiday!
Never heard of this holiday, but QUITE on board with it.
Hey, we celebrate Festivus, too! Part of our tradition is to make Festivus Rods, which are pretzel rods covered with white chocolate. (Like a Festivus pole, see.) This year our Festivus pole (a lovely metal coat rack with removable limbs) was left at the office, so we had to make do with a piece of metal nailed through a cork. It was a table Festivus pole.
We usually just air grievances, but I was going to break a board this evening as a feat of strength. Then we realized that the feats of strength are supposed to involve beating someone and we all decided we'd just go back to our individual computers and call it a day.
All my grievances have to do with bad drivers and people who are stupid in stores.
Happy Festivus!
Let's see... for starters, how about people who schedule a (mandatory) meeting for 5:30 p.m. the Friday before Christmas break?
Or the folks behind the Blu-ray and HD-DVD factions staying locked in a format war, so that I can't commit to a high-def disc format? (Yes, I'm old enough to remember the Beta versus VHS battles.)
Or the studio executives who'd rather jeopardize thousands of jobs and sabotage countless films and television shows than actually pay writers for the work they do?
Studio Execs who think they can get quality writers without paying them fairly for their work product.
Moving. Being insane enough to move during the holidays. Double that with moving, holidays, and new job. I am surrounded by unpacked boxes or worse yet half open boxes with the contents everywhere as I try to figure out where things belong and oh yeah its christmas eve so get dressed for the big family dinner that starts in the afternoon.
Oh my! So many of my own grievances have already been voiced. I find that both comforting and frightening! I would add the following:
People who have no memory. I'm not talking Alzheimer's patients here. I'm talking people with perfectly capabable (even brilliant) minds who make eye contact with you and even speak and nod when you tell them something and who then immediately forget the conversation ever took place and seem downright shocked or even annoyed when the subsequent actions (based on that conversation) take place.
Overpackaged products.
Made up "divas" and "supermodels" and "idols." I refuse to accept anyone's uber-status simply because I'm told they have it. C'mon folks, do it the Smith-Barney way. Earn it!
Oh. There are so many others I could list, but I must venture into the world to find something last minute (add that to the list) and be assaulted by stupid people (add to list) and slow people (Move to top of list)!
Thanks for letting me vent!
Merry Festivus!
Andrea B
Merry Christmas! May your grievances disappear into the air, and keep the reviews coming.
Whoever writes the songs for PBS's SUPER WHY should be impaled on a Festivus Pole. That is my holiday grievance for 2007.
I hope you can enjoy a smidgen of peace and quiet before the year is out. You deserve it!
Happy Festivus, Mother Reader! I'm guilty of at least one of your grievances: Bloggers should keep commenting, because sometimes they feel like the only friends you’ve got. Sorry. I'll try to do better.
Love your list, agree with so much of it, and hope you'll find 2008 to be much less grievance-filled.
I hope that for all of us.
And Susan T? Booooo to a M-i-L like that! Take her down in the feats of strength!
MR: #1 reminds me of all those years my mother "helped" me with science fair projects that the teachers required to be so complicated the parents had to do practically all of the work.
Web: I'd like to add to your grievance by saying that kids should have to eat what's put before them until they can cook for themselves, in which case they can cook dinner for the entire family. What would it be? My husband says that if a toddler were in charge of dinner, we'd eat cheese for three weeks straight, and then never again for the rest of the year.
I just had to comment in response to Susan T's comment. Seriously? A weight loss guide from your mother-in-law? That is horrific. I feel very fortunate by comparison.
But Pam, mostly I wanted to comment to say that I get that "sometimes it feels like the blog friends are the only friends you've got" thing. Even though I'm here with family and friends, I feel a bit lost without the usual blog posts and comments during this holiday slow-down....
OK, and I'll add one grievance: children (not my own) who don't say thank you, or comment at all, on their Christmas gifts. Sigh!
Yeah, true. She said she gave it to me because of how much the authors talk about organic stuff...
Sigh. The stories I could tell.
Yay, happy Festivus! I just saw that Seinfeld episode again a couple of weeks ago. Hear, hear on the husband/recycling tip--and may I also add, husbands who can't seem to rinse off their plates despite having thoughtfully brought them into the kitchen post-mealtime.
Okay, one more grievance: busybody relatives who keep asking one when one is going to reproduce, and saying that one should do so before one gets too old.
I would like to add sales help that roll their eyes and sigh when you bring an armful of stuff to the counter - yes it sucks to have to work on Christmas eve but just think .... you could be on our side of the counter with the rest of the panic stricken population who left things til the last minute. Oh yeah, and you could have to carry the 20 pounds of books someone just bought that pays your salary.
Parents should refuse to do their kids' projects for them. Then the teachers would see what the kids can really do. And really, down with all projects and homework!! I am aggrieved by any homework that isn't reading! (Okay, I LOVE my daughter's math teacher this year who only assigns 5 problems a night. That's managable.)
I have a grievance against my mother in law, too: she is not nice to my wife! :(
Happy Festivus to All--every one!