Why am I passionate about this?

I write books to make sense of the world  ā€” this gloriously weird, sometimes heartbreaking, marvelous place we call home. Years ago, while visiting a museum in St. Louis, I heard a woman give a talk on charlatans (people who intentionally deceive others for their personal gain). It sparked a number of questions in me: Why do we believe the things that we do? What might we be willing to try to change our circumstances? Exploring these ideas was the starting point for my book, Miraculous, and its mysterious stranger, Dr. Kingsbury. I hope the stories you read in these pages fill you wonder as they did me.


I wrote

Miraculous

By Caroline Starr Rose,

Book cover of Miraculous

What is my book about?

Thirteen-year-old Jack knows what cured his baby sister when his family thought she might never get wellā€”Dr. Kingsburyā€™s ā€œMiraculous Tonic.ā€ā€¦

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The books I picked & why

Book cover of When You Reach Me

Caroline Starr Rose Why did I love this book?

Miranda Sinclair is confused by the odd words the ā€œLaughing Manā€ ā€” a homeless man who lives on her street corner ā€” always repeats when he sees her. Then she starts receiving mysterious notes that seem to predict the future, notes Miranda learns have come from the Laughing Man.

This book knocked my socks off! Set in the late seventies, it reminded me of my childhood days, right down to the book Miranda always has with her, A Wrinkle in Time (which I read for a book report in fifth grade.) When You Reach Me is undefinable. Part mystery, part science fiction, the whole story is sprinkled with clues and second chances.

By Rebecca Stead,

Why should I read it?

13 authors picked When You Reach Me as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 8, 9, 10, and 11.

What is this book about?

Miranda's life is starting to unravel. Her best friend, Sal, gets punched by a kid on the street for what seems like no reason, and he shuts Miranda out of his life. The key that Miranda's mum keeps hidden for emergencies is stolen. And then a mysterious note arrives:
'I am coming to save your friend's life, and my own.
I ask two favours. First, you must write me a letter.'

The notes keep coming, and Miranda slowly realises that whoever is leaving them knows things no one should know. Each message brings her closer to believing that only sheā€¦


Book cover of A Fine White Dust

Caroline Starr Rose Why did I love this book?

Peteā€™s whole life changes the summer the Preacher Man comes to town. Hearing the Man speak fills Pete with purpose. No one understands Pete like the Preacher Man ā€” neither Peteā€™s parents, who no longer attend church, nor his best friend, who is an atheist ā€” and Pete will do anything to hold fast to his devotion.

I read this short, deceptively simple book twice while working on Miraculous. It is an honest look at the longings and purpose so many of us search for, the power a persuasive individual can have, and the flaws that make us all human. Iā€™ll never forget this book.

By Cynthia Rylant,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked A Fine White Dust as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 10, 11, 12, and 13.

What is this book about?

Synopsis coming soon.......


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Book cover of Those That Wake

Those That Wake by Jesse Karp,

Mal's older brother has disappeared into thin air. Laura's parents went away for the weekend and when she gives them a call, they have no idea who she is. In pursuit of answers, the teens become entangled with two others similarly targeted by a force they don't understand and now,ā€¦

Book cover of The Wish Giver: Three Tales of Coven Tree

Caroline Starr Rose Why did I love this book?

What happens when a person gets what they think they truly want? For only fifty cents, a mysterious stranger offers to give the people of Coven Tree exactly what they wish for, but unexpected (and humorous) problems arise when those wishes come true.

When I was a student teacher, The Wish Giver was on my stateā€™s reading list. I read it and was intrigued! A little creepy, a whole lot mysterious, Iā€™ve remembered this book for years.

By Bill Brittain, Andrew Glass (illustrator),

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Wish Giver as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 8, 9, 10, and 11.

What is this book about?

A Newbery Honor Book that the New York Times called "an eerie delight," The Wish Giver is an engaging literary folk story about those who get what they wish for-whether they want it or not.

The people of Coven Tree are no strangers to magic. In fact, the town's very name comes from a gnarled old tree where covens of witches used to gather. Even now, imps and fiends continue to appear, frightening the townsfolk with their devilish pranks.

Usually these creatures are easy to spot. They have a particular smell, or sound, or way of moving, that betrays theirā€¦


Book cover of Tuck Everlasting

Caroline Starr Rose Why did I love this book?

Exploring the woods near her home, ten-year-old Winnie meets a teenager named Jesse Tuck as he drinks from a bubbling spring. Jesseā€™s family is carefree, like none Winnie has ever met, but theyā€™re also strange, staying hidden away from the rest of the town. Winnie learns their secret comes from the spring: Its water offers everlasting life to anyone who drinks it.

I first read this book years ago and revisited it while writing Miraculous. It examines interesting questions (much like The Wish Giver): What makes life meaningful? What if we could change our ā€œdissatisfyingā€ lives ā€” would the cost be worth it?

By Natalie Babbitt,

Why should I read it?

4 authors picked Tuck Everlasting as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 10, 11, 12, and 13.

What is this book about?

Winnie Foster is in the woods, thinking of running away from home, when she sees a boy drinking from a spring. Winnie wants a drink too, but before she can take a sip, she is kidnapped by the boy, Jesse Tuck, and his family. She learns that the Tuck family are blessed with - or doomed to - eternal life since drinking from the spring, and they wander from place to place trying to live as inconspicuously as they can. Now Winnie knows their secret. But what does immortality really mean? And can the Tucks help her understand before it'sā€¦


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Book cover of The Flower Queen: A 1970's Suspense Romance

The Flower Queen by Kay Freeman,

It began with a dying husband, and it ended in a dynasty.

It took away her husbandā€™s pain on his deathbed, kept her from losing the family farm, gave her the power to build a thriving business, but itā€™s illegal to grow in every state in the country in 1978.ā€¦

Book cover of The Boneshaker

Caroline Starr Rose Why did I love this book?

Thirteen-year-old Natalie Minks loves to tinker and is fascinated when a traveling show comes to town with a mysterious contraption hidden under a tarp. But something is wrong with the show and its healer, Jake Limberleg. Natalie realizes for the sake of her town, she is the one who must discover the truth and finally set things right.

Like my book, Miraculous, The Boneshaker is centered on a traveling medicine show. The story is mysterious and atmospheric ā€” two of my favorite things. I loved how the townā€™s past informed its present. Most of all, I loved Natalieā€™s bravery.

By Kate Milford, Andrea Offermann (illustrator),

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Boneshaker as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Thirteen-year-old Natalie Minks loves machines, particularly automataā€”self-operating mechanical devices, usually powered by clockwork. When Jake Limberleg and his traveling medicine show arrive in her small Missouri town with a mysterious vehicle under a tarp and an uncanny ability to make Natalieā€™s half-built automaton move, she feels in her gut that something about this caravan of healers is a bit off. Her uneasiness leads her to investigate the intricate maze of the medicine show, where she discovers a horrible truth and realizes that only she has the power to set things right.

Set in 1914, The Boneshaker is a gripping, richlyā€¦


Explore my book šŸ˜€

Miraculous

By Caroline Starr Rose,

Book cover of Miraculous

What is my book about?

Thirteen-year-old Jack knows what cured his baby sister when his family thought she might never get wellā€”Dr. Kingsburyā€™s ā€œMiraculous Tonic.ā€ Dr. Kingsburyā€™s potion can cure everything from pimples to hearing loss to a broken heart, and Jack himself is a witness to the miraculous results and the doctorā€™s kindness. When Dr. Kingsbury and Jack arrive in Oakdale, the town at first feels like any other theyā€™ve been to. But itā€™s clear Oakdale is a town with secrets, and its citizens are slow to trust strangers. 

Then Jack meets Cora, and a friendship neither expected starts to bloom. Together they uncover something else they didnā€™t expect. As they race to discover the truth, theyā€™ll have to decide who and what to believe before itā€™s too late.

Book cover of When You Reach Me
Book cover of A Fine White Dust
Book cover of The Wish Giver: Three Tales of Coven Tree

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