A Family for Leona - reprint of blog post by Aidana WillowRaven

A Family for Leona ~ cover art and design for Beverly Stowe McClure (@beverlymcclure) and 4RV Publishing (@4RV)

I'm so excited to talk about today's book and cover. It was so much fun to do. A Family for Leona is a middle-grade historical fiction novel that all ages will love, even when they're crying. In true Beverly Stowe McClure style, this story runs the gamut of emotions while exploring an amazing story.

 

I met Beverly early in my career. I was still a new Art Director at 4RV Publishing and I fell in love with Beverly's book Just Breeze.

Since then, other 4RV books we teamed up on, Life on Hold and Star of the Team, have been Silver and Gold Winners in the Children's Literary Classics Awards (2013 and 2015, respectively).

Needless to say, I love working with Beverly and her characters. I can't wait to see what we are doing next. 

For A Family for Leona, I wanted a vintage look that also expressed apprehension, sadness, hope, and wonder. With any luck, some of that come across in the cover, enticing people to first read the blurb and second, grab a copy of their own. Myself? I already put my order in for a hardcover tomb.

Blurb for A Family for Leona ...

Ten-year-old Leona Chapter doesn’t understand why her papa left his six children at the Brooklyn Home for Homeless Children after their mother’s death in 1921. Each day she prays he’ll return and take his children home. God, however, isn’t listening. Her brothers and sisters are either adopted or run away, leaving only Leona and Baby Mildred in the orphanage. Leona promises she and Mildred will be together for always. A promise she cannot keep, for Leona, along with her friend Noah, who she defends from the bullies Hiram and Jehu, and several other orphans, are soon on a train headed to Texas, while her sister stays at the orphanage. Leona vows she’ll go back to Brooklyn, the first chance she gets.

Be sure to visit the 4RV Publishing website and bookstore (in the nonfiction section) for your discounted copy today. Also available on Amazon at a slightly higher retail price. (Bulk and wholesale orders must be made through 4RV directly.)