When thirteen-year-old Stevie Grace’s life is uprooted from Taos, New Mexico to live with the grandfather she never knew existed in Little Esther, Texas, she is not happy about landing at the Texas Sunrise Motel. The motel is rundown and the people that live there are charming, if a bit odd. Little by little, Stevie starts to trust the community around her, as they welcome her. There’s Miss Violet, who always wears clothes from the “Lost and Found collection” at the motel, and who loves classic movie marathons. Horace and Ida, both in wheelchairs, are constantly complaining about the broken washing machine and threatening to leave. Arlo and Roy, a father and son who help with the upkeep of the motel, are also among the first to befriend Stevie. Stevie begins to learn who her mother was as a young girl, as she is tutored by the elderly and narcoleptic Mrs. Crump, who also taught Stevie’s mother too. The trouble is, Mrs. Crump falls asleep before Stevie gets to ask her anything! And when Stevie’s aunt invites her to stay in Louisiana, she is torn between living with her father’s sister, or returning to her grandfather and the Texas Sunrise Motel, where a little garden she has planted is starting to bloom.
Kimberly Willis Holt won the National Book Award for her middle grade novel, When Zachary Beaver Comes to Town. Her stories are always filled with humor and heart, and Blooming at the Texas Sunrise Motel for kids 8-12 is no exception.
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| Kimberly Willis Holt |
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