The glasses contribute a rainbow shimmer to her view of the everyday-and, combined with a speculative phrase and a bit of mist, allow Winna to communicate with Estelle's ghost. After Tupelo inadvertently breaks Winna's glasses, Grampa Carl gives her a pair of silver-framed spectacles that once belonged to her great-aunt Estelle. When their mother is hospitalized with a respiratory malady, 10-year-old Winna Cole and little sister Tupelo stay with their grandparents in Vandalia, a town that once served as a stop on the Underground Railroad. With an affectionate nod to the works of Edward Eager, Shawl ( Everfair, for adults) writes about 'magic happening to regular, ordinary kids' in this immersive 1962-set novel that combines the historical and the magical. This beautifully written historical fantasy by an award-winning science fiction author offers new twists and turns in every chapter and will leave you looking at your own family's roots with new eyes. And unless Winna can solve the mystery and bring him home, a powerful curse called the Burden will smother out their family's lives-and Winna's mom could be its next victim.

But Key was stolen from her under mysterious circumstances, and now Estelle and Winona have a mission for Winna: Find Key. Nearly a century before, Winona escaped from slavery and ran north with her baby, Key. and soon she meets not only the real Estelle, but Estelle's mother, Winona. The specs are silver and perfectly circular, with tiny stars on the bridge and earpieces that curl all the way around her ears.īecause when Winna makes a wish beginning with the words 'What if'-that is, when she speculates-the spectacles grant it. and a really marvelous pair of spectacles.Īfter Winna's little sister breaks her glasses, her grandfather gives her an old-timey pair of spectacles that belonged to her great-aunt Estelle. By Grade + Interest - K to 1st By Grade + Interest - 2nd to 3rd By Grade + Interest - 4th to 5thĪ wonderful middle-grade fantasy debut about Black families, family history, family curses.

Speculation by Nisi Shawl