Becca McCulloch Reads and Writes

Iveliz Explains It All : (Newbery Honor Award Winner)  In this Newbery Honor Book by Andrea Beatriz Arango, main character Iveliz writes free-form poetry as she recovers from PTSD and depression. She longs for understanding from the people around her as she pushes them further and further away.  The book was heart-wrenching.  The use of free-form poetry was very effective at portraying a preteen filled with dreams but at a loss for how to maneuver through the world. The short character list made it possible to have empathy for every single player in Iveliz’s world. Her mom is exhausted. Her grandmother is slipping into Alzheimer’s. Her best friend has his own drama. The author avoided making Iveliz too innocent and those around her too guilty. Instead, it’s a well-told story of messy human drama told in simple, accessible verse. I have mixed feelings about the integrated English/Spanish. As a person who is bilingual and learned Spanish in the Caribbean, the use of Puerto Rican slang pr

 Books by Becca McCulloch Hermana: A Novel https://a.co/d/2Grpy3G Books by Liv Bartlet Production Values: A Monkey & Me Novel https://a.co/d/eX4qYW8 Off Script: A Monkey & Me Novel https://a.co/d/2QvlWT7 Becca McCulloch is a wife, mother, dietitian, and writer but rarely in that order (if in any order at all). At night, she transitions from mild-mannered educator into mild-mannered artist, writing about LDS (Mormon) issues in a modern and complex world. In 2016 and 2017, she won the Storymakers' First Chapter Contest/General Fiction category. In 2019, her novel, Hermana, was named the General Fiction category winner for the LDS Publishers Media Association.  Becca resides in Utah with her husband, 4 children, 2 Great Danes, and a host of neighborhood cats.  You can follow Becca on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/WriterMcCulloch/) and on Twitter/Instagram as @WriterMcCulloch.