Under the Lilacs

Feeling ignored by her busy mother and older sister, Kate leaves a note and runs away. She doesn’t go far, just outdoors—a lush, spring green dreamscape conjured in Goodale’s light-as-air monoprint, ink, and digital collage—to a lilac bush, where she constructs a house for herself out of cardboard, sticks, and tape, and decides, with industrious confidence, that she “could live here, under the lilacs.” Kate’s voice succinctly captures the whirling emotions of childhood’s lonely moments, deftly balancing sulky isolation with the need for attention and companionship. In slippery slope fashion, she opens her tiny home to the family cat, Mango (“she can sleep on my pillow like always”), her sister (“Mango might miss Hannah,/ so I should probably make a room for her”), and her mother (“Mango might also miss Mom”). After Kate’s cardboard house fills with family, Goodale (Here and Now), making her solo debut, cleverly reveals that it is a miniature version of Kate’s real home, down to the stones lining the walkway and the round window up top. A gentle glimpse at a child’s newfound independence and impulse to escape, “at least for a little while.” Ages 4–7. Agent: Lori Kilkelly, LK Literary. [em](Mar.) [/em]