The Dress and the Girl

Graceful artwork by Morstad (When Green Becomes Tomatoes) creates an elegiac atmosphere for a story that unfolds in a small Greek village, where blue shutters and red tiles enliven the whitewashed walls. Andros (Charlotte the Scientist Is Squished) writes about a dress (“much like many others, made for a girl by her mother”) and a girl; together, they spend their days “picking daffodils, feeling the wind, and staring at the stars” and longing for the extraordinary. When the girl’s family emigrates to turn-of-the-century America, the trunk that contains her dress goes missing. One narrative thread personifies the dress, imagining it “searching” the world over for the girl before the dress and the girl, now grown, reunite and remember their shared “singular, stunning, or sensational” history. While the conceit of the dress as an active character feels a bit clunky, the lyrical text and evocative art will make readers linger. Ages 4–8. [em]Author’s agent: Lori Kilkelly of Rodeen Literary Management. Illustrator’s agent: Emily van Beek, Folio Literary Management. (Aug.) [/em]