Amazon A Quilt and a Home Dog Ear Publishing Category:  Children Publisher: Dog Ear Publishing ISBN-10:  978145751489 Type: Fiction Pages: 36 Copyright: 2012 ISBN-13: 9781457514906,9781457514890 Price: $14.95 (eBook) Eight-year-old Abby Olson has a secret – she lives in a homeless shelter with her mother and brother. This is a book for children and the grown-ups who care about them, telling of resilience in the face of domestic violence, parental separation, poverty and homelessness. Abby J Olsen is living a confusing and secret life. At age eight, something has happened that she doesn't want the kids at school to know - she lives in a homeless shelter with her brother and her mom. There are a lot of things Abby is trying to figure out, so she decides to write down the story of her life. One thing Abby learns for sure: her mom is a pretty brave grown up. A Quilt and a Home is a gentle story told from an eight year olds perspective that tells of parental seperation, poverty and homelessness. The metaphor of quilting is woven throughout the book as Abby begins her story watching her mom work on a quilt. When things fall apart in their lives, "putting the pieces together" in order to get her family back to wholeness becomes her desire. She tells about a mother who is pragmatic and completely present for her and her brother. Despite Abby's own feelings of uncertainty and anger, she begins to admire her mom for having the courage to navigate the difficult, sometimes tedious, and necessary steps to rebuild their life. This book is a story of resilience; it explores decision making, asking for help, coping with feelings when life seems out of control, and coming to a place of hope for a future that is within reach. Excerpt "When I tell mom I don't know that we will ever have a home again, she says that our life is just like that quilt she was making for me before we had to leave our house. It has to be stitched together one piece at a time. Mom says that we just don't have all of the pieces right now, but that we will someday soon. She says that it is her job as the mom to collect all of the pieces and that Todd and I can help her stitch them together."

Kathy Atwood, Chief of Police, Everett, WA
'A Quilt and a Home' is a terrific book for children and their families. This is a story that shows resilience and determination in a child to overcome difficult life challenges with the help of supportive adults around her. In law enforcement, we often see families in crisis without the resources or support to help them. This book shows that asking for help and getting support from others can make all the difference; it is a very positive message for any family.

Teacher - Special Needs Students, John Jarrett
As a teacher of special needs students for nearly 20 years, I find that talking with children about the realities of homelessness can be quite challenging - fraught with the emotional issues of loss and failure and the myriad of adult problems that are often homelessness' cause. Pam Wessel-Estes approaches each topic honestly, while remaining faithful to the voice and understanding of her young narrator, Abby.

The illustrator, Cathy Clark brings a palette of colors thoughtfully organized - her choices vibrantly reflect and represent Abby's indefatigable optimism. Every page visually brings this story of a girl and a quilt to vibrant life.

This is a book not only for those with empathy, but is a tool for nurturing and growing empathy in all of us - young and old. Read it with a child and both of you will want to make a quilt for someone's new home.

Religious Educator, Pam G.
A Quilt and a Home" by Pamela Wessel-Estes is not only highly readable with wonderful illustrations, it's also an important and timely book for children - and adults! - because it portrays the perspective of a child and her family who are living in a shelter for homeless people. With her sensitive insight into what this experience is like for children and families, the author helps readers become more understanding and compassionate of people in this difficult yet all-too-common situation. As an educator with children for over 20 years, I have never before encountered a book like this that explores this topic in this way - personal, sympathetic, and educational, as well as being very accessible for children. Before reading it I had never really thought about what it must be like for children in shelters, so this book opened my mind to their experience. I think all teachers and libraries, as well as day care centers, social service agencies, and community centers should have this book on hand. The illustrations by Cathy Clark are wonderful - sweetly drawn and colored, yet realistic from the main character's point of view. The pictures help to draw the reader into the world of this story.