Saturday, April 26, 2014

Here Lies Linc


Delia Ray is an Iowa author whose work I have enjoyed for a few years now.  This spring the Cedar Valley Reads program welcomed her to town and I was able to hear her speak with our fifth graders. 

Here Lies Linc is the featured book the fifth graders read by Delia Ray.  Linc and his mother live in Iowa City where his mother works studying burial rituals.  Conveniently, their house is located next to a graveyard.  Linc is attending public school for the first time, having attended an alternative home school previously. 

When he finds out his mother, Lottie, will be leading a tour through the graveyard, Linc makes his mother promise she won't give away that they are related. 

Linc and his classmates are especially interested in the Black Angel, a statue marking a grave.
As Linc works on his class assignment, he is drawn to the grave of a woman whose name the two share, wondering if they are connected in some way.  

His discovery helps him come to terms with the death of his father, and allows him to really talk to his mother.

Delia Ray shared more background information about the Black Angel and the research she did to write this story.  The students were totally enthralled with the idea of the Black Angel, and Ray proved to be an interesting storyteller, sharing little tidbits that intrigued my students.

I loved Here Lies Linc - one of the small things that I enjoyed being the epitaphs that begin each chapter that I discussed with the students.  Ray's previous novels Ghost Girl and Singing Hands were also wonderful reads.  Her newest book will be published next year, and I can't wait.  

Getting to hear an author speak about her inspiration for writing is a treat - one I enjoy as an adult, and an event I hope my students remember.

No comments: