Laura C. Stevenson
A Writer in Vermont
Young Adults
Laura has two daughters, Kate and Meg. When they were little, she told them stories almost every day. A year or two after Laura and her husband divorced, Kate elected to live in Santa Barbara with her father and stepmother Ð but what would happen to the stories? So Laura said she would write a story and send it to Kate in installments. The result was "Kate's Book" long before it became Happily After All. While Kate's book was still struggling along, Meg was given a social studies assignment to design an island. It was a great island, but it had no history - and so Laura offered to give it one. "Meg's Book" became The Island and the Ring.
Happily After All
“Using the rugged Vermont mountains as her backdrop, Stevenson weaves a rich tapestry, colored with adventure and textured with emotions. Her descriptions are simple and remarkably clear; her characterizations are sharply defined. Although horse lovers in particular will be drawn to this story, others will be touched by its honesty and warmth.”
--Publishers Weekly
"A beautifully told tale … The characters are charmingly imperfect . . ."
--Voya
The Island and the Ring
“ The story is classic fantasy and romance told in a refined tone that will appeal to subtle tastes. The lean but hyper-visual narrative feeds the reader's imagination while the dialogue effortlessly imparts deep philosophy. ”
--Publishers Weekly
The heartbreaking decline and deaths of three beloved family friends provoked Laura to write a fantasy about Alzheimer's Disease, whose victims gradually lose every dignity except the dignity of being loved.
All The Kings Horses
“With one bound - vivacity of imagination hand-in-hand with clear-cut, lucid writing - Laura C. Stevenson has subsumed an “unspeakable” subject into the stuff of a teenage novel full of power, excitement, pertinent observation, humour (the book is anything but gloomy) and sheer readability, which invites discussion and promotes greater understanding.”
--Carousel
Laura's experiences with her own minor dyslexia and her history of teaching students with learning disabilities resulted in a study of dyslexia and denial.
A Castle in the Window
“A novel about music, reading, learning, facing up, individuality (‘First of all,’ says [Aunt] Joan, ‘normal does not mean right’), and the nurturing of potential; serious, mysterious, absorbing, written with wit and tough-minded sensitivity.”
--Carousel