The old Victorian perched on the Louisiana bayous is dusty and filled with staircases, secret rooms and corridors. Puzzling letters from Grammy Claire start appearing in locations around the house. Letters from beyond the grave. Letters with warnings of upcoming danger and directions for tasks Tara must perform.

Then a box arrives filled with ten numbered keys. From her dead Grammy Claire. Tara must use her wits and brains to figure out the clues and find the locks that the keys fit, leading her step by step toward unlocking Grammy Claire’s secrets.

And the butterflies keep coming, each one more spectacular and beautiful and mysterious than the last. Where are they coming from, who sent them, and what power will they have over Tara’s life?

When the Butterflies Come is a mystical, emotional, and physical journey about a girl who discovers an explosive secret that will change her life forever and heal herself as well as the people she loves. (Middle-grade Fiction)

September 17th: Panelist at the Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance trade show in Charleston, SC

October 1, 2011: Launch of my new novel, CIRCLE OF SECRETS, Scholastic!

October 1, 6:00 p.m.: CIRCLE OF SECRETS Launch Party at Deseret Bookstore in Albuquerque

October 24-28: School Visits in the Bay Area, Contra Costa Reading Association Keynote Speaker

October 15, 10:30 a.m.: Bookworks bookstore in Albuquerque, Book Signing Party and Charm Bracelets!

November 5, 2:00 p.m.: Alamosa Books in Albuquerque, Book Signing Party and making charm bracelets

I’ve drunk so much Land of Enchantment water that some of that ancient magic got into my blood and now spurts out my pencil–I mean ergonomic keyboard.

Please sit down for a spell and enjoy a *behind the scenes* look at my books.

Circle of Secrets Teacher’s Guide

Circle of Secrets Mother-Daughter Book Club Guide

The Healing Spell Mother-Daughter Book Club Guide!

The Healing Spell Teacher’s Guide!

***   *** ***   ***   ***   ***

The Healing Spell has been chosen

as a Bank Street College Best Book of 2011

Won the Whitney Award for Best Youth Novel of 2010!

A Crystal Kite Finalist

A New Mexico Book Award Finalist

“An incantational tale of Cajun magic and gators on the bayou and of the love and silence between mother and daughter.” RICHARD PECK, Newbery Medalist

“The Healing Spell is an atmospheric, affecting story of hope and devotion, as elegant and mysterious as bayou country itself.” CYNTHIA LEITICH SMITH, acclaimed author of Tantalize and Eternal

Email me for your very own Charm Bracelet from CIRCLE OF SECRETS! kglittle at msn.com

ONLY $11.99 plus $2.00 Shipping!!!

A beautiful gift with a copy of the book for any girl, mom, daughter,

friend, niece, granddaughter . . .

Choose your favorite color for the locket (from Left to Right): Light Pink, Red, Turquoise, Clear, Yellow, Green, Dark Pink, Purple, Blue in a beautiful blue drawstring bag!  

Circle of Secrets Book Trailer!

The Healing Spell Book Trailer!

You’ll need Adobe Acrobat Reader to open these files. Download here:

Circle of Secrets Teacher’s Guide

Circle of Secrets Mother-Daughter Book Club Guide

The Healing Spell Teacher’s Guide

The Healing Spell Mother-Daughter Book Club Guide

The Last Snake Runner Teacher’s Guide

Enchanted Runner Teacher’s Guide

Breakaway Teacher’s Guide

Critically acclaimed author Kimberley Griffiths Little weaves a haunting story of friendship and family and the power of faith, once again set against the lush backdrop of the Louisiana bayou.

After her mother walked out on Shelby Jayne and her dad, Shelby thought she’d never speak to her mamma again. But with her dad leaving the country for work, it turns out she doesn’t have a choice: Shelby has to move back into her mamma’s house, deep in the heart of the Louisiana bayou.

Her new classmates tease and torment her, so Shelby’s relieved to finally find a friend in Gwen, a mysterious girl who lives alone on the bayou. But Shelby can’t help wondering if Gwen has something to do with the puzzling messages she finds hidden in the blue bottle tree behind her house. The only person who might be able to explain is her mamma — but Shelby’s not ready to ask. Not yet. It may take a brush with something from the beyond to help Shelby see that the power to put her own ghosts to rest is within her reach.

Kimberley Griffiths Little’s haunting and powerful tale brings one girl’s attempt to grapple with family, friendship, and forgiveness to beautiful, vivid life.

(Synopsis from Scholastic Press)

Circle of Secrets Teacher’s Guide

Circle of Secrets Mother-Daughter Book Club Guide

Email me for your very own charm bracelet from CIRCLE OF SECRETS! kglittle at msn.com

ONLY $11.99 plus $2.00 Shipping!!! A beautiful gift with a copy of the book for any girl, mom, daughter, friend, niece, granddaughter . . .

Choose your favorite color for the locket (from Left to Right): Light Pink, Red, Turquoise, Clear, Yellow, Green, Dark Pink, Purple, Blue in a beautiful blue drawstring bag!

REVIEWS:

Kirkus Reviews: A steamy Louisiana bayou is the atmospheric backdrop to a tale about a daughter’s estrangement from her mom, the mother’s long-held guilty secret and a restless ghost’s long-sought closure.

When her dad takes a job overseas, 11-year-old Shelby must stay with the mother who walked out on both of them a year earlier. Deeply resentful and wary of her healer mom’s isolated cabin deep in the swamp, Shelby gets drawn into mysterious doings involving strange notes hidden in glass bottles that hang from a tree near home . . The author serves up the setting well, evoking the sights, sounds and smells of the humid, tangled bayou. A very dramatic climax leads to a sweet, satisfying ending with some surprising twists and with reconciliation occurring for several characters. For readers who like their ghost stories more friendly than terrifying.  (Suspense. 9 -12)

The Healing Spell Teacher’s Guide PDF (pdf)

The Healing Spell Mother-Daughter Book Club Guide (pdf)

HEALING SPELL jacket art (pdf)

Bank Street College Best Book of 2011!!!

The Healing Spell WON the Whitney Award for the Best Youth Novel of 2010!

AND a Crystal Kite Finalist!

AND A New Mexico Book Award Finalist!

“An incantational tale of Cajun magic and gators on the bayou and of the love and silence between mother and daughter.” RICHARD PECK, Newbery Medalist

“The Healing Spell is an atmospheric, affecting story of hope and devotion, as elegant and mysterious as bayou country itself.” CYNTHIA LEITICH SMITH, acclaimed author of Tantalize and Eternal

The Healing Spell Book Trailer!

]]> http://www.kimberleygriffithslittle.com/2009/12/the-healing-spell-scholastic-june-2010/feed/ 4 http://www.kimberleygriffithslittle.com/2009/12/snake-runner/ http://www.kimberleygriffithslittle.com/2009/12/snake-runner/#comments Thu, 03 Dec 2009 10:32:06 +0000 kglittle http://www.catapultwebhost.com/kimberlylittle/?p=29 Grade 6-10-A sequel to Enchanted Runner (Avon, 1999), this book stands on its own as a work of historical fiction and a time-travel story. Kendall, 14, has rediscovered his Native American roots in New Mexico at the Acoma Pueblo, ancestral home of his mother’s family. He is the last of the Snake Clan, a long line of warriors and mystics responsible for carrying out the yearly ceremonies that propitiate the gods and bring rain. In his modern existence, he is struggling to deal with the death of his mother. When his father remarries, the teen cannot accept the woman, and he flees into the desert. Transported back to 1598, he becomes part of the vibrant life of the Acoma people, who live on a mesa and farm the surrounding land. The tribe’s interaction with a group of Spaniards outfitted in armor results in tragic and devastating consequences, with Kendall a participant, witness, and one of the few survivors.

The violence and brutality are powerfully portrayed in this action-filled story. Details of everyday life on the mesa and the people’s strong spiritual connection to the land are what make this book stand apart from many other time-travel stories. An author’s note explains that the historical events described are based on an eyewitness account by one of the Spanish soldiers. The novel succeeds as a fast-paced adventure and as a meditation on the consequences of a clash of dissimilar cultures.
David Pauli, Hillsboro Public Library, OR
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Download Teacher’s Guide: Last Snake Runner

As Kendall prepares for a summer-long adventure spent criss-crossing the states in his dad’s semi, a letter arrives from his mother’s grandfather, beckoning him to Acoma. He feels cheated, until it occurs to him that his mom might somehow be there, in Sky City. He’s twelve, after all, and his mother always kept her promises.

Drawn into his great-grandfather’s world of secrets and sacred ceremony, Kendall discovers that the magic he feels when he runs is a proud legacy, one linked to a way of life as ancient and mysterious as the earth itself. In the process of trying to recover his mother, Kendall reclaims his worldly and spiritual heritage, in a moving story of one boy’s search for identity and belonging.

Teacher’s Guide Download: Enchanted Runner

So when he’s ridiculed and challenged by one of the school’s star players, he makes an impossible promise. He agrees to meet the bully for a match–the bully’s team against Luke’s own team. The problem is that Luke doesn’t have his own team . . . or any soccer skills . Then Luke gets a letter from his father, who says there’s no room in his life for Luke. It’s time for Luke to stop just dreaming…and find the inner courage to make his dreams come true.

Download Teacher’s Guide: Breakaway

Kimberley says, “Coaching my son’s soccer team, The Fighting Falcons, with my husband, was the inspiration for writing “Breakaway.” ]]> http://www.kimberleygriffithslittle.com/2009/12/break-away/feed/ 0