The Way to Stay in Destiny

by Augusta Scattergood

Overview

From the author of the acclaimed Glory Be, a novel that celebrates baseball, fast piano, and small-town living in the wake of the Vietnam War. 
 
When Theo gets off a bus in Destiny, Florida, he's left behind the only life he's ever known. Now he's got to live with Uncle Raymond, a Vietnam War vet and a loner who wants nothing to do with this long-lost nephew. Thank goodness for Miss Sister Grandersole's Boarding House and Dance School. The piano that sits in Miss Sister's dance hall calls to Theo. He can't wait to play those ivory keys. When Anabel arrives things get even more enticing.  This feisty girl, a baseball fanatic, invites Theo on her quest to uncover the town's connection to old-time ball players rumored to have lived there years before. A mystery, an adventure, and a musical exploration unfold as this town called Destiny lives up to its name.
 
Acclaimed author Augusta Scattergood has delivered a straight-to-the-heart story with unforgettable characters, humor, and hard questions about loss, family, and belonging. 

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780545538244
Publisher:	Scholastic, Inc.
Publication date:	01/06/2015
Pages:	192
Product dimensions:	5.60(w) x 8.30(h) x 0.90(d)
Lexile:	650L (what's this?)
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

About the Author

Augusta Scattergood is the author of Glory Be, which was a National Public Radio Backseat Book Club selection, a Texas Bluebonnet Award nominee, and hailed by Newbery medalist Richard Peck as the story of a bygone era "beautifully recalled." Her novel The Way to Stay in Destiny was named an Amazon Best of the Month. A children’s book reviewer and former librarian, Ms. Scattergood has devoted her life and career to getting books into the hands of young readers. Her reviews and articles have appeared in the Christian Science Monitor, Delta Magazine, and other publications. Ms. Scattergood, who lives in St. Petersburg, Florida, is an avid blogger. To learn more, visit www.augustascattergood.com.

Editorial Reviews

10/27/2014
It’s May 1974, and Theo M. Thomas is begrudgingly taken in by his gruff Uncle Raymond, a Vietnam vet, and brought from Kentucky to the small town of Destiny, Fla., on the Gulf Coast (Theo’s parents died when he was young, and his grandparents can no longer care for him). They move into Miss Sister Grandersole’s Rest Easy Rooming House and Dance Academy, where Theo is saddled with chores and ordered around by his uncle, who wants little to do with him. Theo isn’t looking forward to starting sixth grade at a new school until he meets the mayor’s daughter, Anabel, who shares his love of baseball. Miss Sister encourages Theo to use his talent for playing the piano at the academy’s recital, but just when Theo feels that his destiny is at his fingertips, Uncle Raymond threatens to uproot him again. With an eye and ear for period details and dialogue, Scattergood (Glory Be) builds a cast of memorable, realistically flawed characters in an affecting story about holding on to one’s dreams. Ages 8–12. Agent: Linda Pratt, Wernick & Pratt. (Jan.)

Publishers Weekly

Praise for The Way to Stay in Destiny:
 
“A well-crafted novel that explores such challenging themes as enduring the impact of war on families, establishing a new life, and understanding what love truly means, this will connect well with middle school readers.” --Booklist
 
“With an eye and ear for period details and dialogue, Scattergood (Glory Be) builds a cast of memorable, realistically flawed characters in an affecting story about holding on to one’s dreams.” --Publishers Weekly
 
“A heartwarming story of friendship, family, and finding one’s place in the world despite hardship and heartache.” --School Library Journal

Praise for Making Friends with Billy Wong:
 
“Scattergood paints an honest portrait of two young characters dealing with quick judgments, prejudice, and racism . . . A refreshing novel inspired by real-life Chinese-American communities not often seen in stories.” --Kirkus Reviews
 
“In a quiet story set in 1952, Scattergood shines a light on a rarely told bit of history . . . Azalea’s narration is interspersed with occasional entries from Billy’s perspective, written in verse, that show his strength of character and desire to succeed, despite facing clear challenges in the segregated South.” --Publishers Weekly
 
“The characters are finely drawn, and the period elements are smoothly incorporated into the narrative. The author’s extensive research on the time and place comes through in the details.” --School Library Journal

Praise and Accolades for Glory Be:
 
A NPR “Backseat Book Club” selection
 
Featured on NPR's “Weekend Edition” with Scott Simon
 
A Texas Bluebonnet Award Nominee
 
“There's a whiff of Carson McCullers in Augusta Scattergood's story of a sultry Southern summer long ago when the outside world moved all the markers of Glorianna Hemphill's growing up.  It's a summer of bigotry and beehive hairdos, of sit-ins and dangerous boys.  All mixed together and beautifully recalled.” --Richard Peck, Newbery Award-winning author of A Year Down Yonder
 
“Glory Be is a lovely debut novel for younger readers, akin to Kathryn Stockett's The Help--an important read that raises powerful racial issues of the 1960s American South.” --Kathryn Erskine, National Book Award-winning author of Mockingbird
 
“Glory Be weaves a seamless story of sisterly love, broken friendships, and the strength that it takes to stand up for the right thing.  Augusta Scattergood is at the top of my debut-authors-to-watch list.” --Barbara O'Connor, Parents' Choice Award-winning author of How to Steal a Dog
 
“In Glory herself, tilting on the threshold of adolescence, Scattergood paints a balanced portrait of childlike self-interest and awakening integrity. This moving, intimate look at America’s struggle for civil rights, as seen through the narrow lens of one growing girl, will spark interesting discussion.” --Booklist
 
“This debut offers a vivid glimpse of the 1960s South through the eyes of a spirited girl who takes a stand.” --Kirkus Reviews
 
“Scattergood's effective snapshot of the fight against segregation, one town at a time, makes personal the tumultuous atmosphere of the times.” --Publishers Weekly
 
“Glory is an appealing, authentic character whose unflinching convictions, missteps, and reflections will captivate readers.” --School Library Journal

From the Publisher

Since the death of his parents, Theo has lived with his loving grandparents. Now, however, they are elderly and infirmed, and his Uncle Raymond, a Vietnam veteran whom Theo has never met, has returned to take custody of him. They leave Kentucky and go to Destiny, Florida. Uncle Raymond is cold, aloof, and demanding while Miss Grandersole, who owns the Rest Easy Rooming House and Dance Academy where they rent a room, is just the opposite. A new friendship with Anabel Johnson who would rather play softball than tap dance, the opportunity to play the piano, and discovering that Hank Aaron may have stayed in Destiny during Spring Training, convince Theo he wants to live there. When Uncle Raymond gets an opportunity for a better job in another town, Theo tries to find a way to stay. Scattergood sets the story in 1972 Gulf Coast Florida, populating this sleepy little town with interesting characters. Readers will discover how the Vietnam War divided U.S. families. Themes of family and belonging, and right and wrong are interwoven throughout. There is a contagious positive energy in the writing of this tale. Readers will be engaged from the first page of this feel-good novel and will cheer for Theo at the end. Beautiful. Reviewer: Sharon Salluzzo; Ages 9 to 12.

Children's Literature - Sharon Salluzzo

01/01/2015
Gr 4–6—When 12-year-old Theo's grandparents become too elderly and ill to care for him, his surly uncle Raymond, a Vietnam War vet, reluctantly takes him from the family home in the hills of Kentucky to the small town of Destiny, FL. They end up residing at the Rest Easy Rooming House & Dance Academy, which is owned and operated by the lovely Miss Sister Grandersole, a former Rockette. Theo (whose full name is Thelonius Monk Thomas, after the jazz musician) finds in Miss Sister a friend and advocate, who also encourages his musical prodigy on the piano even though his uncle forbids it. Set in the 1970s, the town of Destiny is awash in steamy southern atmosphere and baseball history—Hank Aaron and others are purported to have stayed and practiced there. The cast of lively characters, including spunky Anabel who befriends Theo, come to life under author Scattergood's talented hand. A heartwarming story of friendship, family, and finding one's place in the world despite hardship and heartache.—Madeline J. Bryant, Los Angeles Public Library

School Library Journal

2014-11-04
Music and baseball history combine to convince sixth-grader Thelonious Monk Thomas that Destiny, Florida, should be his hometown.When Uncle Raymond, a Vietnam vet still hurting from the war and from his dead sister's anti-war activities, brings orphaned Theo to Destiny in May 1974, he warns him not to get attached. But in Rest Easy, their new rooming house, Theo finds a piano to play and a determined landlady, dance teacher Miss Sister Grandersole, who encourages his musical gift just as energetically as his angry uncle discourages it. Theo also finds a friend in classmate Anabel Johnson, who loathes dance but loves baseball. She enlists him in a project to find evidence of major league baseball players who lived in town 20 years earlier. Did Hank Aaron once stay where Theo lives? Theo tells of his first weeks in Destiny in a not-completely-convincing first-person, present-tense narrative that moves quickly through the days, culminating in his accompanying a dance recital and finding a way to stay as well as a possible Hank Aaron sighting. It's puzzling that no one mentions skin color, not even when characters talk about Aaron in the 1950s, when the "tall, skinny guy" would have been living and dining in accommodations separate from most of his teammates. Doesn't quite hit the right notes. (Historical fiction. 9-13)

Kirkus Reviews