Juanita Havill
Juanita Havill is the author of numerous children's books including Jamaica's Find, a Reading Rainbow Review Book, IRA-CBC Children's Choice, and winner of the Ezra Jack Keats New Writer award. Other books in the Jamaica series include Jamaica Tag-Along (1989, $13.95), Jamaica and Brianna (1993, $13.95, and most recently Jamaica's Blue Marker (1995, $). All of the books are published by Houghton Mifflin and are appropriate for ages 4 to 8.
Havill lives for the moment and stated that she is a very curious person. "I probably have a short attention span so I find myself interested in an awful lot of things that I want to write about." The idea for Jamaica's Find came from Havill's visits to the park. "Watching the kids there every day gave me ideas for characters. One of the kids that I had been observing, I never knew her name, I just sort of took a mental picture and thought 'There's something about that girl that I want to put in a story,' and she was Jamaica."
Ever since she was really young Havill wanted to be a poet. "I used to make up poems when I was about four or five and couldn't print anything legibly. I would tell my poems to my mother who very patiently wrote them down. My mother insisted that poets didn't eat well so she thought maybe I ought to be a teacher. I studied English at the university of Illinois. I kept writing and worked as a translator in France. I was never really far from the written word. It wasn't until my son was born, while we were back in the States, that I seriously started to market what I had written."
Like many children's authors, Havill does not have an agent. She prefers working with the editor directly. Editors help writers find the stories they are trying to tell. However, the Jamaica stories have been fairly complete when submitted with just a word here or there changed.
The Jamaica books are very popular in England. Havill said that she doesn't know why. "It could be name recognition, that 'Jamaica' is familiar to them. I'd like to think the story is universal and that they connect with it." Others agree with this assessment, and reviewers frequently comment that young children are sure to identify with Jamaica.
Contributor: Anna Olswanger
For a conversation with Juanita Havill regarding Grow, click here.
Reviews
Grow
Juanita Havill
Through bright and engaging verse, readers will meander through this story of a community garden and the people who grow together there. The community that develops around their project is shared with readers through 12-year-old Kate's observations that help to make her character both substantial and vulnerable at the same time. The characters build up much the way a plant grows, one detail showing itself at a time. The story flows quickly and even reluctant readers should be hooked before they know it. The issues of weight, diet, losing a beloved pet, and child abuse make their way into the story and allow many opportunities for discussion. There are pretty illustrations throughout, but since it isn't always a pretty story they often seem disconnected or superfluous. This does provide an opportunity for teachers to have students choose a verse and illustrate it in their own way. This book would work well for both whole-class work or in the hands of a student in need of a boost. The cover won't sell the book, though, so it will need word-of-mouth and some booktalks to get the ball rolling. Recommended. 2008, Peachtree Publishers, 144pp., $14.95 hc.. Ages 9 to 13. Reviewer: Genevieve Gallagher (Library Media Connection, September 2008).
Twelve-year-old Kate Sibley tells her what-I-did-last-summer story in a series of charming poems that capture the spirit of Berneetha, a larger-than-life adult friend and laid-off special education teacher, who decides to plant a community garden on a vacant urban lot. Berneetha involves Kate and Harlan, a "Graffiti gangster," to help her. Kate learns about social action, friendship, self-acceptance, and tolerance, as well as about plants, while the colorful, enthusiastic, and too-big Berneetha uses their garden to grow neighborhood unity, cooperation, and kindness among people of various ages, mental abilities, professions, economic means, and attitudes. By the end of the story, Harlan, betrayed by his abusive father and greatly missed by Kate, lives with his grandmother in Chicago; Berneetha's classroom receives renewed funding; and Kate starts the school year, looks forward to next summer's garden, and finds that Berneetha is her inspiration for writing poetry. Havill uses an appealing narrator to describe the neighborhood project and people. Whimsical illustrations, fast-moving narrative, and extensive white space make it a good choice for middle school female reluctant readers, but the story will appeal to motivated readers as well. Like the more sophisticated, multiview Seedfolks (HarperCollins, 1997), it drives home the importance of positive personal action in effecting community change. VOYA CODES: 4Q 4P M (Better than most, marred only by occasional lapses; Broad general YA appeal; Middle School, defined as grades 6 to 8). 2008, Peachtree, 160p.; Illus., $14.95. Ages 11 to 14. Reviewer: Lucy Schall (VOYA, April 2008 (Vol. 31, No. 1)).
ISBN: 978-1-5614-5441-9
Jamaica and Brianna
Juanita Havill
Illustrated by Anne S. O'Brien
Havill's books are characterized by a superb understanding of the inner lives of young children. Here, she shows how hurt feelings can trouble friendship in early school years. Jamaica thinks her friend Brianna is laughing at her boots. When Jamaica laughs at Brianna, her feelings are also hurt. Jamaica is likeable, but she's not perfect. Although Jamaica's behavior is flawed at the outset, she evolves into a heroine by the story's end. This picture book talks a lot about how friends can be ugly to each other in school. It might be a good book to help out a sister, brother, or even a friend who is hurting. 1993, Houghton Mifflin, Ages 5 to 8, $14.95 and $5.95. Reviewer: Susie Wilde
Jamaica's Blue Marker
Juanita Havill
Illustrated by Anne Sibley O'Brien
Jamaica takes pride in her drawing in art class. Then the teacher comes along and asks Jamaica to lend her markers to Russell, the class troublemaker. Reluctantly she complies with the teacher's request. Then Russell takes the blue marker she was forced to give him, and scribbles all over her perfect drawing! Jamaica cannot tolerate this "mean brat." When she learns that Russell and his family are moving, she is glad for her own sake. As she sees it, he does not deserve a good-bye card from her. But Jamaica learns that kindness, not rejection, is what Russell needs. O'Brien's soft, realistic illustrations highlight the innocence depicted in this story. 1995, Houghton Mifflin, Ages 4 to 8, $13.95. Reviewer: Dia L. Michels
Jennifer, Too
Juanita Havill
Illustrated by J. J. Smith-Moore
Seven-year-old Jennifer just wants to play with her big brother, Matt, and his friends. Whenever Jennifer tries to join, Matt always tells her to "go bother someone else," but there's no one else in the neighborhood to play with. Jennifer wants to show the big boys that they will still have fun if they play with her, so she sets out to prove herself a worthy playmate. Perky Jennifer secretly joins in on the boys' games of spying on their neighbor's house and chasing ghosts in the attic. She turns out to be a sneakier spy and a braver ghost-chaser than all the boys put together! Finally, when it's time to play knights in shining armor, Matt and his friends decide that Jennifer is most definitely a worthy playmate. She is dubbed "Sir Jennifer" and finally feels a part of the group. This cute story is an inspiration for all the younger brothers and sisters who have to fight to play with the big kids! 1995, Hyperion, Ages 7 to 9, $3.95. Reviewer: Catherine Campbell Wright
Sato and the Elephants
Juanita Havill
Illustrated by Jean Tseng and Mou-Sien Tseng
A young Japanese boy wants to carve ivory as beautifully as his father. When his father dies, Sato is good enough to begin selling his work, but big pieces of ivory are harder and harder to find. One day Sato gets a perfect chunk of ivory and, after a lot of thought, he knows he wants to make an elephant. As he cuts away the ivory, he sees a dark spot and to his horror, he discovers that it's a bullet. Only then does Sato begin to realize where ivory really come from. By the end of the book, Sato is able to change his dream so it works for him and the elephants, too. 1993, Lothrop, Ages 6 up, $15.00, $14.93. Reviewer: Susie Wilde
Updated 1/27/2009
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