Elizabeth O. Dulemba has written or illustrated over two dozen books for children, including her historical fiction debut A Bird on Water Street, winner of more than a dozen literary awards. She received a BFA from the University of Georgia, served as Illustrator Coordinator for the southern region of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators, and served as a Board Member for the Georgia Center for the Book. She is currently pursuing an MFA in Illustration from the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. During the summers, she hops across the pond to teach Picture Book Design in the MFA in Writing and Illustrating Children's Books program at Hollins University in Roanoke, Virginia. She enjoys traveling and seeing new sights with her husband, Stan. Visit Elizabeth online at dulemba.com.
Appropriate for children in grades 4 -8, A Bird on Water Street is
a coming-of-age story about growing up in an East Tennessee mining
community during the 1980s. Although Jack lives in an area that has
been ravaged by poor mining practices, he is a typical boy who
likes baseball and hanging out with his best friend. His dad has a
good job in the copper mine and life is good for the most part. But
then things change. Jack s uncle is killed in a mining accident,
the mining company implements a massive layoff, and the remaining
overworked men (including Jack s dad) go on strike. The strike has
expected consequences: stores close, people move away, Jack s
family has to survive on a shoestring budget, and the company
eventually closes the mine. In the midst of the suffering, however,
the environment begins to heal. Jack s garden begins to grow,
tadpoles develop in tailings ponds, and a bird is seen on Water
Street. I m not going to give away the ending, but I will say that
it is satisfying. Dulemba s book is not a celebration of mining,
but it does celebrate the spirit of the men who work in mines. Jack
comes from a long line of miners, and his father wants Jack to be a
miner too. Jack, however, wants to work above ground at 13 he has
been to too many funerals for people who have either died in mining
accidents or as the result of mining related illnesses. On the
other hand, his friend Piran, whose father is the town s
postmaster, would like to grow up to be a miner because the miners
are the royalty of Coppertown in his eyes, and he finds the
underground environment appealing. The author even pays homage to
the Harmon and Hicks families of Beech Mountain, North Carolina in
a scene where Jack s mother entertains her husband and son with
Jack Tales while they are stranded during an ice storm. In fact,
Jack s father is named Ray Hicks (the real Ray Hicks was a National
Heritage Fellow and noted teller of Jack Tales). The author
breathes life into her characters. Readers can relate to Jack s
agony when he sees the girl he likes with an unsuitable boyfriend
or his sense of wonder with the sounds and colors of the natural
world outside of his barren community. Dulemba s description of
parents who are trying to act normal when the world they know is
falling apart is right on target. Even the lunar-like landscape of
Coppertown feels like a well-developed character changing from a
barren wasteland into an environment that can begin to support
plants, trees, and animals. Although the story is fiction,
Coppertown is modeled after Copperhill, Tennessee. In an Author s
Note, Dulemba gives a brief history of the Copper Basin region as
well as information on Appalachian culture. She also includes
several photographs of the Copper Basin that readers should find
fascinating. Elizabeth Dulemba is an award-winning
author/illustrator of children s books. She is a Visiting Associate
Professor at Hollins University in the MFA program in Children s
Book Writing and Illustration. A Bird on Water Street, her first
novel, is well written and engaging, and is heartily recommended
for public and school libraries, as well as academic libraries with
juvenile collections.--Kathy Campbell "Tennessee Libraries ""
The men in Jack s family have always worked the mines. The
13-year-old has already lost his grandfather and his uncle to
cave-ins and explosions, and he lives in fear of a similar accident
taking the life of his father. In the mid-1980s, the Southern
Appalachian Coppertown is a barren, desolate place, long stripped
of trees and grass by a century of mining. Jack doesn t know how to
tell his family that he has no desire to follow in his father s
footsteps, and he dreams of green trees rather than the moon like
landscape of his Tennessee town. When many of the workers are laid
off, the remaining miners organize a strike, thinking that the
owners will remedy their unfair actions with better wages and
safety conditions. The strike comes at the beginning of the
holidays, resulting in a Christmas celebration that is sparser than
usual but more meaningful as the community draws together. As the
shutdown continues into the spring, Jack notices small signs of
life returning to his toxically ravaged town frog eggs in a shallow
pool, a few weeds. He helps the growth along, starting a vegetable
garden with his mom and planting a tree in his yard. The company
eventually announces that it is closing the mine down for good.
What could be a hopeless situation is made tolerable as the
families come together to find other work opportunities and enjoy
the strange sensation of seeing bugs and birds again. Historic
photographs and an author s note round out a tender story of
families and friendships against the backdrop of harsh economic
conditions. Hand this quiet tale to fans of Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
and Barbara O Connor. Kim Dare, Fairfax County Public Schools, VA"
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