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Into the Wind

Finalist: Forward INDIES Best Book in Juvenile Fiction

Finalist: Independent Publishers of New England Children’s Book Award

“A moving, well-written tale about an unusual friendship.”

—Kirkus  Reviews (See full review)

“Bold, honest storytelling… A tender middle grade novel about an unconventional multigenerational friendship.”

—Foreword Reviews (See full review)

“This story is packed with new words, positive thoughts and brave deeds…I highly recommend Into the Wind for school and families, or for that young hero in your life.”

—Clare O’Beara, Fresh Fiction (See full review)

“[Into the Wind] will appeal to readers of all ages who appreciate the inherent beauty of a friendship that crosses generations… Life has a way of throwing the right book into the right hands at the right time. I suspect this tender novel will be one of those books.”

Mary Helen Sheriff, Booktrib (See full review)

About the Book

It’s shaping up to be a rotten summer for 10-year-old Rusty, who lives on an island off the New England coast.  He’s just flunked fifth-grade math and has to go to summer school.  His older sister is bossier than ever.  Worst of all, his mom is far away on the mainland—undergoing treatment for her sudden, confusing, and exhausting “sadness”—while his dad struggles to keep the household together.  Rusty’s only refuge is in caring for and teaching himself to sail a small, beloved sailboat.

While working on his boat at the village dock one evening, Rusty meets Hazel, a feisty old lady in a wheelchair.  Hazel, a local artist from an old sailing family, asks—no, demands—that Rusty take her sailing.  He refuses.  They argue.  And an unlikely friendship begins.  Hazel hires Rusty to help her with household tasks on summer afternoons.  Between cleaning, painting, and cutting weeds, Rusty bonds with Hazel over shared lunches, watermelon seed spitting, and their mutual love of sailing.  When Rusty does eventually take Hazel sailing, they come to better know and feel what connects them, even as her life nears its end and his is just beginning. 

What will happen when Rusty’s mom returns home, summer ends, and he moves on to sixth grade?  Into the Wind is a poignant story about loss and love in a boy’s life, and the surprising and sustaining bonds that can grow between the old and young.