Come Along With Me will transport eight-to twelve-year old children,
their parents, and their grandparents to another world when they read
Come Along With Me, an adventure about friendship and caring, the
unfortunate consequences of jealousy, and the power of hope.
Meet Gracie, a ditzy dwarf kangaroo from the Thirty-sixth Universe--a creature who lives in a perfect realm. Because she is bored, Gracie longs for an adventure to St. Petersburg, Russia, a place she imagines is filled with beauty and enchantment. Much to the tiny ‘roo’s surprise, her ability to transport herself to the land of the czars has failed. She ends up at a dairy farm in St. Clair, Pennsylvania, where she saves the life of Gibson, an abandoned Maine coon cat.
The unlikely pair become fast friends. While Gracie tries to find her way back home, Gibson carves a life for himself on a farm with his newly adopted mistress, the farmer’s young daughter. There’s one hitch: The overworked farmer demands that Gibson earn his keep. Gibson’s task is thwarted somewhat when he experiences strange visions. But are these visions the result of a thrashing he received from the farmer’s two dogs? Or, maybe Gibson sees parallel universes?
As outsiders the little kangaroo and the cat from the city negotiate the perils of farm life. They meet two malicious rats who hate anyone who is happy. The two devoted friends must contend with stampeding cows and a barnyard of critters that have little use for newcomers.
Will Gibson keep his sanity and become the little girl’s pet? Will Gracie ever see the splendor of the Russian Versailles? Will the farmer survive the evil machinations of the rats, Bratwold and Eastman? Drift back to the days of Barbie dolls, hula hoops, and Sputnik to find out.
A Reader's Opinion
I'm not going to summarize the book because the blurb does that well. What I will do is tell you that Come Along With Me is filled with charm, adventure, and morals. The characters are wonderfully depicted and find clever ways of getting themselves out of trouble. The author definitely has created a unique story with her equally unique writing style, and I believe this book would be most enjoyed read aloud to others. Recommended for middle-grade readers, but because of a little content and the use of adjectives younger readers may not understand, I would say on the higher end of that spectrum depending upon the type of reader. Overall, an enjoyable read.
Don't forget to check out The Palace Buzz, book two in this delightful series.
Here she goes again! Gracie, a dwarf
kangaroo from the thirty-sixth universe, is skipping across the cosmos to her
dream destination: St. Petersburg, Russia. She's traveling with Gibson, a Maine
coon cat whose life she saved when he was unceremoniously dumped in front of a
Pennsylvania corn field. Expectations and reality quickly collide. What she
expected to find was a city of wintery white nights, a city dotted with a
hundred islands linked by dozens of imposing bridges, all book-ended by
majestic sculptures cast in bronze. She expected to feast her eyes on historic
buildings splashed with pink, yellow and blue pastels. Instead, she finds
herself back in the 18th century, in Russia's Imperial Golden Age. This is not
the city I expected, she laments as she stands bewildered near the entrance to
the city's center of activity, the perpetually busy post office. Then, when
Empress Catherine arrives in her royal carriage and points a bejeweled finger
at the ever-so-handsome Gibson, and declares: I want that cat...the fun begins.
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Author Linda Lee Schell
Linda's favorite children’s genre is
fantasy/adventure. Her goal is to encourage children to think creatively
and critically, and to expand their imaginations while simultaneously exposing
them to a variety of cultures and histories through fantasy.
Combining childhood innocence with
historical verisimilitude and a dash of magical fantasy--that was Linda's impulse
behind writing her first book, Come Along With Me.
Linda was born in Youngstown, Ohio
and moved in 1977 to St. Clairsville, Ohio, twenty minutes from Wheeling, West
Virginia. Linda left her employment to help her husband establish a classic and
collectible car business. While in St. Clairsville Linda was active in the
Chamber of Commerce and The Merchant’s Association. Her husband of
forty-four years and one son now live in Venice, Florida.
Linda is the daughter of an Ohio
dairy farmer and an elementary school teacher. Her working years were in a
competitive sales and business environment.
Active in Rotary and the Chamber of
Commerce, she is a Paul Harris Fellow.
