fuonlyknew

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Welcome to my stop on the LIGHT AND AIR by Mindy Nichols Wendell Blog Tour hosted by Rockstar Book Tours.

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Check out my post and make sure to enter the giveaway!

 

 

LIGHT AND AIR

Author: Mindy Nichols Wendell

 

 

Pub. Date: January 2, 2024

Publisher: Holiday House

Formats: Hardcover, eBook

Pages: 218

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Find it: Goodreads, https://books2read.com/LIGHT-AND-AIR 

 

It’s 1935, and tuberculosis is
ravaging the nation. Everyone is afraid of this deadly respiratory illness. But
what happens when you actually have it?

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When Halle and her mother both come down with TB, they are shunned—and then
they are sent to the J.N. Adam Tuberculosis Hospital: far from home, far from
family, far from the world.

Tucked away in the woods of upstate New York, the hospital is a closed and
quiet place. But it is not, Halle learns, a prison. Free of her worried and
difficult father for the first time in her life, she slowly discovers joy,
family, and the healing power of honey on the children’s ward, where the girls
on the floor become her confidantes and sisters. But when Mama suffers a lung
hemorrhage, their entire future—and recovery—is thrown into question….

Light and Air deals tenderly and insightfully with isolation,
quarantine, found family, and illness. Set in the fully realized world of a
1930s hospital, it offers a tender glimpse into a historical epidemic that has
become more relatable than ever due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As Halle tries to
warm her father’s coldness and learns to trust the girls and
women of the hospital, and as she and her mother battle a disease that once
paralyzed the country, a profound message of strength, hope, and healing emerges.

A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection

 

 

Enjoy this peek inside:

Excerpt from Light and Air / Text copyright © 2024 by Mindy Nichols Wendell. Reproduced with permission from Holiday House Publishing Inc. All rights reserved. 

 

CHAPTER ONE

 

September 1935

 

The doors of the small white schoolhouse burst open. Children spilled out into the golden afternoon like bees whose hive had been disturbed.

 

The oldest boys came first, shoving and scowling. Most of them were headed home to help in the fields. Getting out of school early didn’t mean nearly as much to them as it did to Halle, who tumbled out the door arm in arm with Thelma, her best friend.

 

Halle squinted up at the brilliant blue September sky and grinned. It was the kind of blue that made you feel very small but also very hopeful. Taking a deep breath, she filled her lungs with the fresh, sweet air. She couldn’t wait to get home, fly through her chores, and then spend the rest of this perfect afternoon outside pretending it was still summer.

 

Jennie and Fran, two of the other fifth-grade girls, caught up with Halle and Thelma.

 

“Don’t forget to bring your paper dolls tomorrow, Halle,” Jennie said. “So we can make more clothes for them at lunch.”

 

“I’ll remember,” Halle promised. Jennie dreamed of becoming a dress designer and liked to practice by making paper doll clothes. She especially loved dressing the dolls Halle’s mother had made; she said they looked more like real girls than store-bought paper dolls. She called Mama an artist.

 

“Too bad you won’t be here, Thelma,” Fran said, trying to keep a straight face.

 

The high school classes Papa taught ended at three thirty, but he stayed late every day grading papers and preparing for the next morning. The boys who attended his school didn’t get out early for farm chores; they either skipped school altogether on harvest days, or they simply dropped out after eighth grade. Papa had lots of opinions about this. He believed everyone needed a high school education at the very least.

 

“You bet you will,” he said.

 

His stern words, aimed at Halle, felt like a blast of icy wind. But his sharp blue eyes barely grazed her as they focused on Mama. Halle saw them take in Mama’s pink cheeks and trembling hands as she smoothed the hair off her forehead.

 

“You need to help out more around here, Halle,” he said. “Your mother is not your servant.”

 

“It’s fine, Graham,” Mama said quickly, putting a hand on his arm. “Halle helped me with the applesauce earlier. She does plenty of chores. You know that.”

 

A look passed between them. Papa frowned, then nodded slightly, turning to wash his hands at the sink.

 

Why does he always do that? This was between Mama and me. It had nothing to do with him. Halle set her lips in a firm line to keep from saying something that would upset Mama, but inside, she seethed.

 

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About Mindy Nichols Wendell:

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Mindy Nichols Wendell taught writing and pedagogy at SUNY Fredonia for
many years, where she served as the Director of the Composition Program. In
2019, she received the prestigious State University of New York Chancellor’s
Award for Excellence in Teaching. Mindy lives in Western New York with her
husband, Steve, a retired teacher. She is located not far from the ruins of the
J. N. Adam Tuberculosis Hospital, the inspiration for LIGHT AND AIR.

Website | Twitter (X) | Instagram | Goodreads | Amazon | BookBub

 

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1 winner will receive a finished copy of LIGHT AND AIR, US Only.

Ends January 31st, midnight EST.

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a Rafflecopter giveaway

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