A Path of Pebbles

Have you ever followed a trail of shiny stones, one more lovely than the other, until you found yourself deep in the woods of wondering…?

STEPPING STONES: A Refugee Family’s Journey by Margriet Ruurs, artwork by Nizar Ali Badr, Orca Book Publishers, 2016

First I read an article in Bookbird,  A Journal of International Children’s Literature. The article was written by Margriet Ruurs, an award winning author of more than 30 books for children.  She, too, was following a path of pebbles, first showing up on Facebook. She saw the artwork of a Syrian sculptor from Ugarit, now living and working in Lattakia, Syria. He simply arranges rocks on the ground or on a rectangle of plywood – except it’s not so simple. His images tell deeply emotional stories.

Author Ruurs had to find this artist, had to ask him about his life and work. Her article in Bookbird details her determination to find him and her inspiration to write a book about a refugee family’s journey to find a peaceful life. She wanted Nizar Ali Badr to tell this eloquent story in stones undergirded by his own intriguing story: a gifted artist managing to create in spite of a multitude of deprivations.

I had to follow the trail to her book, too, as reader. I had to know how her search ended, as well as more about the artist himself.

Ruurs’ story follows a young girl who is forced to flee her home when war comes to her Syrian village and “Life in our village changed. Nothing was as it had been.” The pebble people who are her family say good-bye to the rooster and the goat and go to the end of the earth where they must cross a vast sea. The physical burdens of the pebble family’s belongings bow the adults’ bodies, but the weight of loss is a burden the sculptor conveys in all the bodies, young and elderly.

This family created by author Ruurs survives the sea, but other refugees do not. On land once more, the family stops. “Mama and Papa planted seeds to grow flowers to remember those who did not reach freedom.” It’s a tender scene. Love, care, hope. All told in stones that have become real people to the reader.

Badr has not left his homeland. In the foreword, author Ruurs notes that sometimes the artist does not have money to buy the glue that would make his art permanent. It becomes one of those “meant to be” moments that made it possible for the artist and author to create this book for a publisher willing to consider challenging circumstances. Badr says his ancestors left “a signature in my genes to create and share my work with honesty and modesty.” Ruurs hopes she can raise awareness of the plight of those who must flee the horrors of war.

This is a beautiful book.

Summer + Books

Beach, mountains, or my own back yard, my favorite summer spot is a comfortable chaise, chair, or swing, with a stack of good books in reach—always. I’m just back from the beach, rested and ready to share the books I enjoyed the most with you.

Do undercover agents intrigue you? Was Harriet the Spy a favorite book? Are you a James Bond fan? Do you ever wonder about ordinary people waiting for a bus or standing in a grocery line? (I do.) Could they be spies? For those who share your home AND your attraction to suspense (especially ages 8-12), hide this book and leave some clues.

IN DISGUISE! Undercover with Real Women Spies by Ryan Ann Hunter, Beyond Words/Aladdin 2013.

For starters, the author is not what she seems to be. Try to set up a meeting with Ryan Ann Hunter. She can’t come. She doesn’t exist. Ryan Ann Hunter is two people, Elizabeth G. Macalaster and Pamela D. Greenwood who write together under a pen name.

This book was first issued ten years ago but spy tales didn’t end when the authors finished their manuscript. With the release of formerly classified files, new stories emerged. Ryan Ann added more women spies and daring deeds. This edition spans 300 years and covers 30 brave women, including a few who might have stood next to you on an elevator. Ryan Ann Hunter may be a pen name, but the authors’ subjects really lived and some still do.

Readers will meet Anna Smith Strong who lived during the American Revolution and used her laundry as a signal. During the Civil War Mary Bowser was a freed slave whose photographic memory and her position as a servant in the Richmond home of President Jefferson Davis enabled her to pass information about troop strength and war strategy to other Union spies. More recently, Lindsay Moran worked doggedly to achieve her goal to join the CIA. She later resigned and wrote a book, Blowing My Cover: My Life as a CIA Spy. Her book and an email response to the Pam Greenwood half of Ryan Ann Hunter, add immediacy to this spellbinding collection of stories about women secret agents.            

Puzzles and trivia are scattered throughout the pages plus some tips about how to hide in plain sight. I liked the creative ways spies delivered messages and maps long before the aid of high tech. Here are a few: a wax head, a skytale (rhymes with Italy—you look it up) and a few hollowed out eggs in a market basket. How many eggs must be broken to make an omelet or find the secret message? Breakfast must have been an adventure.

Well researched, with notes, a bibliography, and interviews, In Disguise! could open a new career path for readers. It has for me. Right there on page 124 a “Spy Files” note leaped right out at me. “When spies break into a building to plant a bug, they sometimes take their own dust along to replace the dust they may disturb on a table, desk, or windowsill.”

Sometimes?

Is dust in short supply?  With endless resources, I am eager to become a dust supplier to secret agents. For contact information look under a jar of pickles shelved among the cake mixes. Only you will know it’s been misplaced for a reason. (Note: I think this is called a dead drop.)

Shh!