Young Adult and Children's Books
by Shirley Rousseau Murphy
Unsettled
For young adult readers
Originally published as Poor Jenny, Bright as a Penny
Hardcover: Viking, 1974; Ebook edition, 2011
Fifteen-year-old Jenny Middle struggles to hold her family together despite poverty, constant moves, the jail sentence and drunkenness of her mother, and a sister tragically involved with drugs. This timeless story of growing up forty years ago will be as relevant and moving to girls of today as it was to those who read it when first published.
"A complex, grim . . . but finally moving story. . . . When you see what giant obstacles Jenny has to scale, what strength and inner resources she must throw into the effort, life for the rest of us seems suddenly to be lived on Easy Street." --New York Times Book Review
"Though it was designed for . . . 13, 14, and 15-year olds, it kept me from sleep and television the other night. . . . A moving story about a poor urban family whose pattern of life is set by the dyed-haired, beer-drinking mother with a penchant for packing up and moving on when things get tough. . . . It's a good story and, I believe, a story that is true to our times." --Atlanta Constitution
"Balanced and full of suspense, a moving novel that faces desperate situations without flinching." --Vanguard
"Mrs. Murphy doesn't flinch from Jenny's grim surroundings or her mother's hopelessly unmaternal behavior." --Kirkus Reviews
"The writing style is excellent, the characterization and dialogue strong and convincing . . . it is realistic, it is candid if depressing . . . [and conveys] the concept that the resilient young can endure in formidable circumstances." --Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books
Unsettled can be purchased at
Amazon,
Amazon UK,
Barnes & Noble,
Apple Books, and Kobo.
Read a sample from inside Unsettled
White Ghost Summer
For middle-grade readers
Hardcover: Viking, 1967 (with illustrations by Barbara McGee)
New paperback and ebook editions, 2016
Melani's room in the delightful big old house looks onto a vast park with flowers and trees, and horses on the bridle paths. It is there, early one morning, that she first sees the ghost horse--a great silvery stallion standing on a hill rising like an island above the swirling fog. Where has he come from? Is he real? The answers to those questions leads to an exciting summer for Mel and her family.
"The author's love of horses and of art overflows into this romantic, delightfully told story about a gifted family. . . The White Ghost is a silvery white stallion that, when first seen in the fog at dawn, is Mel's answer to a dream. Where has the stallion come from? Is he real?. . . How these questions are answered and how Mel wins her heart's desire brings to an end what her family agrees has been a 'very fine summer.'" --Chicago Tribune
"What girl wouldn’t like to meet a family made up of people with talent--for illustrating, writing, collecting snakes--a family who moves into an enormous house in San Francisco. . . You'll have fun reading White Ghost Summer.” --Publishers’ Weekly
"A good horse story and an intriguing mystery, it is an unusual picture of a family of creative people. . . . The author writes with an intensity of feeling that grips the reader." --Young Readers' ReviewWhite Ghost Summer can be purchased at
Amazon,
Amazon UK,
Barnes & Noble,
Apple Books, and Kobo.
Read a sample from inside White Ghost Summer
The Sand Ponies
For middle-grade readers
Hardcover: Viking, 1967 (with illustrations by Erika Weihs)
New paperback and ebook editions, 2016
Running away from their drunken and abusive uncle, Karen and Tom go north toward their old home by the sea--the ranch that had been sold, and their beloved horses sold, when their parents were killed in an accident. It's a long journey before they reach the coast and discover the place where wild ponies roam, and where they tangle with a gang of thieves but find shelter with a group of mismatched new friends.
"White Ghost Summer was her first children's book, and both it and The Sand Ponies have more depth and complexity than the average horse story." --Jane Badger, author of Heroines on Horseback
The Sand Ponies can be purchased at
Amazon,
Amazon UK,
Barnes & Noble,
Apple Books, and Kobo.
Read a sample from inside The Sand Ponies
Silver Woven in My Hair
A Cinderella retelling, for all ages
Illustrations by Alan Tiegreen
Hardcover: Atheneum, 1977; paperback: Avon, 1991
London: Macdonald and Jane's, 1978 (illustrations by Zoe Atkin)
Reissue: Trade paperback, Atheneum, 2015; no ebook edition
An involved, realistic telling of the cIassic medieval story, into which are woven several other international versions of the tale, as well. One reviewer has called this new version of Cinderella "a rich and amusing romance that will please many teens and adults as well as younger readers."
"[Murphy] has fleshed out the characters . . . and breathed freshness and suspense into [an ancient] plot. I found Thursey, the heroine, to be lovable and considerably more spunky than the original. and the step-sisters properly villainous. "--Atlanta Constitution
"One of the best retellings of Cinderella I’ve ever read. . . . The characters, from Thursey to Gillie to the nasty stepfamily, are well-drawn and life-like. The story is very grounded in reality, in a practical world where dishes have to be washed and goats have to be fed and there’s none of the impossible and imcomprehensible leaps that the original fairy tales often make. . . . Murphy has kept some of the poetry of the old tales, while giving us characters and a plot that are more tangible." --Tales of the Marvelous Book Blog
Silver Woven in My Hair can be purchased at
Amazon,
Amazon UK, and
Barnes & Noble.