The Curse of the Buttons

The Curse of the Buttons

by Anne Ylvisaker
The Curse of the Buttons

The Curse of the Buttons

by Anne Ylvisaker

eBook

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Overview

Fans of the hapless Button family will thrill to this Civil War prequel, featuring the inimitable “Granddaddy Ike” as a boy.

“Eleven is not too young for war,” Ike said to Barfoot, who swished his tail agreeably, then lumbered to the yard table and stuck his nose in an unattended pie.
When a steamboat arrives heralding the news that Iowa has been called up to represent the Union of the United States of America, Ike is beside himself with excitement. For months, the promise of war has enveloped small-town Keokuk like a grand game that everyone’s in on — everyone but Ike, his swaybacked pony, and his best friend and checkers partner, Albirdie. Left behind with Mother and the aunts and girl cousins while the Button men march forth toward glory, Ike’s fate is sealed. Unless he can call on the ingenuity of his fabled (some say cursed) ancestor — the adventuresome Uncle Palmer — seek passage to Missouri disguised as a drummer boy, and meet up with the Iowa First. But some opportunities are meant to be missed. And some arrive when you least expect them.


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780763666934
Publisher: Candlewick Press
Publication date: 11/11/2014
Sold by: Barnes & Noble
Format: eBook
Sales rank: 822,297
Lexile: 570L (what's this?)
File size: 4 MB
Age Range: 8 - 12 Years

About the Author

Anne Ylvisaker is the author of Dear Papa, which was named a Booklist Top Ten First Novel for Youth, as well as Little Klein and two previous books about the Button family. She lives in California.

I learned to read on a Wednesday. I was in first grade and my friends and I were working through our early reader with Mrs. Covart. I liked the orderly look of words on the page but just mouthed along with the other kids because to me, words looked like squiggles on a page. Then one day after calendar time, we opened our books and read aloud together as usual, running our fingers under the words, and the word father popped out at me. I looked at the word and it connected with a picture in my head. Then other words made the pictures keep rolling: mother, dog, brother, sister, house. I was a reader.

Soon after, my family took a road trip and my mother gave each of us kids a notebook to keep us busy in the back seat. I recorded details from each part of the trip — mostly how far we drove and what everyone ate. We sent postcards to grandparents, describing where we were and what we saw. I was a writer.

Reading and writing are still two of my favorite activities. And stories to me are still about pictures. I pore over old photographs when I’m coming up with ideas, and I keep a wall of photographs and art postcards in my office while I’m working on a story. Pictures help me imagine characters and settings.

A while back I was looking at an old family photograph of a group of people sitting on a rickety porch with chickens running around at their feet. Who was standing behind the camera, I wondered, and what prompted them to take a picture of that scene? A spunky girl named Tugs Button showed up in my imagination, ready to tell the tale of her unlucky family and what she aimed to make of her summer, and The Luck of the Buttons was launched.

Three Things You Might Not Know About Me:

1. My first favorite book was Pickle Chiffon Pie by Jolly Roger Bradfield.

2. Each of my novels got their start because I made a mistake.

3. I love real mail. I try to send a letter or postcard every day.

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