about the book
Young Emily has always wanted to be an artist, so when her teacher introduces her class to Picasso, Emily finds her greatest inspiration. She loves how things in his paintings aren’t where you would expect them to be. She especially likes the way he would use different colors during times he was feeling different emotions—like blue for when he was feeling sad.
Right now, Emily’s family is not having a good time. Her dad no longer lives at home, and it seems like everything is changing. Things are not like Emily expects them to be—like Picasso’s paintings are.
So, Emily decides to enter her “blue period.” She is going to paint only with the color blue. It may last awhile, but not without some good change as well. Maybe even a return to love…
about the author
When Cathleen Daly was fourteen years old, she and a bunch of other girls in San Francisco had the opportunity to spend a summer in A.C.T., the American Conservatory Theater, learning how to act. There were boys there, too. All the girls liked Nick—except Cathleen. She thought his shirts were too tight and his hair too greasy or styled. The boy knew Cathleen didn’t like him the way the other girls did. One day Nick walked up to her and flung a lock of hair over her shoulder, in a very romantic and showy way. She glowered at him, and he walked away.
That was Nicholas Cage. Cathleen still isn’t attracted to him.
Cathleen calls herself a performer and writer—she writes poetry, fiction, and theater pieces, and sometimes acts in them. Like this one time she bobby-pinned a cupcake to her head and danced around with it on stage, until it fell off and she kicked it offstage. Accidentally.
Cathleen’s poetry has been featured in journals, including Literary Mama, The Anthology.
Sources:
Author website
Author biography
Also by Cathleen Daly:
Prudence Wants a Pet. Roaring Brook Press. 2011.
read more!
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Though her parents are divorced, a young girl always brings her beloved dog, Fred, wherever she goes, to her mother’s place or her father’s. The problem is that Fred has some bad behaviors that get on her parents’ nerves. However, whenever one parent talks about sending Fred to the other, the girl forcefully responds, “Fred stays with me!”
I Have Two Homes by Marian De Smet
A young, rosy-cheeked girl named Nina talks matter-of-factly about what life is like having divorced parents. She finds creative ways to deal with the changes, saying that their home had become too small for her mom and dad, so they had to get one for each. Now, though, Nina has two homes! Even though a divorce is painful, Nina finds a way to return to happiness at the end.
Prudence Wants a Pet by Cathleen Daly
Poor little Prudence wants a pet, but her parents each have different excuses for why a pet would be a bad idea. So Prudence gets her own pet! A branch. But Branch—and her successive tries at making other things pets, including her baby brother—is just not like the real thing. Will Prudence ever get her pet?



