Tag: Wandering Swallow

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Update on Life and Craft

I haven’t posted in some time. Life gets busy. It’s the good kind of busy.

Tomorrow begins the third week of a new school year. The final grandchild who attends our school is a senior. I can almost hear the whoosh of passing time.

I’ve spent much of the last year working on The Broken Harp and Strong Walls, a middle grade novel set in Ireland during World War II. Irish history is captivating, especially from that period of neutrality in the war, a time of new independence from England and before the Troubles of the late twentieth century.

The main character, Brian, his father, and his brother, Patrick, are dry stone wall builders who navigate the times the Irish government called the Emergency and the divided loyalties of the community around them. Because of Ireland’s treatment at the hands of the British over the course of centuries, many in that time and place favored Germany in the war.

Brian and Patrick help an American RAF pilot (yes, that happened before Pearl Harbor) and an outcast weaver who is harboring two Jewish children after their father is interned, accused without trial, suspected of being part of the Irish Republican Army.

My granddaughter/illustrator is enjoying her freshman year of college and has crafted beautiful images already.

Hoping to publish on Saint Patrick’s Day 2026.

I’ve also written Virtue Stones, a companion picture book, that explains the theological virtues, the cardinal virtues, plus a few more to get the count to ten. My nephew is doing watercolor images for that effort. Publication date is unknown.

Recently, Wandering Swallow received another award. This time from the American Christian Fiction Writers KidLit Contest, second place for middle grade novels. Paul and I spent a good portion of the spring attending homeschool and classical conventions in Texas, Missouri, South Carolina, Delaware, and Pennsylvania to spread the word about this book.

Free curriculum for Wandering Swallow is available on milicomathersreads.com, Good books for kids and teens.

This Saturday, we’re set to have a booth at Jesus Jam, a local music festival featuring Rebecca St. James.

After a steamy summer, cooler temperatures have finally arrived. We’re on the cusp of a new season, my favorite. A new school year, another year of teaching and writing, Lord willing, another year to invite others into the wonder of God’s world through literature and learning.

We’re feeling very blessed and busy.

The good kind of busy.

Image Credits: Lily Hildebrand and Jason Bulger

Our website milicomathersreads.com is accepting reviews for middle reader books–especially those written by middle school students. Message me at milicomathersreads.com or in the comments below.

Permissions: You are permitted and encouraged to reproduce and distribute this material in any format provided that you do not alter the wording in any way, do not charge a fee beyond the cost of reproduction, and you credit the author and illustrators.

Disclosure of Material Connection:  I have not received any compensation for writing this post. I have no material connection to the entities I have mentioned. Restoring the Shattered is published through Morgan James Publishing. Wandering Swallow is published by EA Books Publishing. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

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Wandering Swallow Parent/Teacher Supplement

Wandering Swallow Parent/Teacher Supplement   Even the sparrow has found a home,
and the swallow a nest for herself,
where she may have her young—
a place near your altar,
Lord Almighty, my King and my God. Psalm 84:3.   

Dear Parents and Teachers,   

I’m hoping you find Wandering Swallow, A Young Girl’s Quest for Freedom an enjoyable learning experience for your children/students. Along with helping students achieve automaticity in reading through engagement with the story, I also wanted to give them a peek into the culture and history of Korea and China. 

Hana’s journey is more than a quest for food. It’s a soul journey. Satan often attacks our souls through our bodies. Hana has to pretend to be a boy so she will avoid the fate so many young North Korean females have faced in their search for freedom.

Over the years of the one-child rule (1979-2015), girls (as well as handicapped boys) often suffered abortion or abandonment. In Eastern culture, if parents are only allowed one offspring, they want sons. 

Because of the rule, China experienced a shortage of women for men to marry. Girls like Hana are often sold into forced marriages or prostitution. I avoided making explicit references to this danger because I want to allow parents to decide how, when, and to what degree they need to explain sexual trafficking to their children.

Over the course of the story, we meet three characters with Down syndrome. Jinsique’s role mirrors the life of Baby Doe who was born with Down syndrome and esophageal atresia, a condition in which his esophagus did not connect to his stomach. A simple surgery would have resolved the issue, but his parents did not give permission. 

It took Baby Doe seven days to die of starvation. 

Because of the one-child rule, baby Jinsique’s life would have been in peril (before or after birth) regardless of a Down syndrome diagnosis. The care Jinsique receives in the book is what I would hope every child would know. 

The history included throughout the book comes from some of the sources listed below and several conversations over years with one of the massacre survivors, Shengde Lian. Lian was one of the student-organizers of the protest and provided much of the insight Lừ ké gives to Hana at the Square. I had the blessing of interviewing him for a couple of articles I wrote as a reporter and independently.

Much of the plot of my book alludes to Elijah’s experience with wind, earthquake, and fire before he hears the still small voice (I Kings 19). May all our readers hear that voice in their own journeys following Christ. 

Wandering Swallow is a tribute to young and old who dared to protest the CCP, those who defied the tyrants of North Korea, and a reminder to America, as John Philpot Curran stated, “The condition upon which God hath given liberty to man is eternal vigilance.” 

Thank you for your interest in Wandering Swallow.   

Milico Mathers

Further Reading and Viewing for Teachers and Parents: (Parental discretion advised for some works)   

Shared Hope International and Report | regenerate are Christian anti-trafficking organizations. 

The Beautiful Blessing of Down Syndrome – Christian Parenting 

From Ignorance to Bliss: God’s Heart Revealed through Down Syndrome by Annie Yorty | Goodreads 

Local Support | National Down Syndrome Society (NDSS) 

China’s one-child policy hangover: Scarred women dismiss Beijing’s pro-birth agenda | CNN 

History, North Korea ‑ South Korea, Nuclear Weapons, President | HISTORY 

United States Institute of Peace, The Politics of Famine in North Korea | United States Institute of Peace (usip.org) 

In Order to Live: A North Korean Girl’s Journey for Freedom, Yeonmi Park, 2016. 

A Thousand Miles to Freedom: My Escape from North Korea, Eunsun Kim, with Sabastien Falletti, 2016. 

“Hong Kong’s Next Yellow Bird,” Taipei Times, Chu Ming-hon, June 27, 2020. 

A Chinese Odyssey: The Life and Times of a Chinese Dissident, Anne F. Thurston, 1991. 

Why Did Stalin Support the Start of the Korean War? | HISTORY 

Operation Yellow Bird, Amazon Prime Video, Watch Operation Yellow Bird | Prime Video (amazon.com). 

Dragon Seed by Pearl S. Buck | Goodreads 

The Good Earth (House of Earth, #1) by Pearl S. Buck | Goodreads 

One Child Nation movie review (2019) | Roger Ebert Respecting Chinese Culture: 

The Example of Hudson Taylor, Part One — Global China Center 

All scriptures quoted within the text come from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Our new website milicomathersreads.com is accepting reviews for middle reader books–especially those written by middle school students. Message me at readgoodbooks@milicomathersreads.com or in the comments below.

Permissions: You are permitted and encouraged to reproduce and distribute this material in any format provided that you do not alter the wording in any way, do not charge a fee beyond the cost of reproduction, and you credit the author.

Disclosure of Material Connection:  I have not received any compensation for writing this post. I have no material connection to the entities I have mentioned. Restoring the Shattered is published through Morgan James Publishing with whom I do share a material connection. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

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Wandering Swallow Update

Wandering Swallow was a Top Seller in Books on Square for December 1.

Read new reviews on Goodreads and Amazon! Student reviews are available on milicomathersreads.com.

Thanks to the launch team group and the great team at EA Books Publishing for all their help that continues.

Wandering Swallow is exciting and suspenseful, filled with Christian themes and history, The book is timely since North Korea is in the news more often today, and China sees more unrest–as it did in the late 1980s and responds with a heavy hand.

Companion curriculum for homeschoolers and classroom use is coming soon.

Our new website milicomathersreads.com is accepting reviews for middle reader books–especially those written by middle school students. Message me at readgoodbooks@milicomathersreads.com or in the comments below.

Permissions: You are permitted and encouraged to reproduce and distribute this material in any format provided that you do not alter the wording in any way, do not charge a fee beyond the cost of reproduction, and you credit the author.

Disclosure of Material Connection:  I have not received any compensation for writing this post. I have no material connection to the entities I have mentioned. Wandering Swallow is published by EA Books Publishing. Restoring the Shattered in published by Morgan James.  I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

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Join the Launch Team!

Wandering Swallow, A Young Girl’s Quest for Freedom is set for release in a few weeks. Now’s the time to join the launch team to receive a free e-copy of the book.

I’ll keep you updated on insider publishing news, and we’ll have Wandering Swallow tee shirt giveaways throughout the Christmas buying season.

I’m looking for team members who will read the book, buy a copy from Amazon on launch day–TBD (in late November), and post a review on Amazon and Barnes and Noble on launch day.

Here’s a link to join the Facebook group.

Thank you for all the enthusiastic encouragement! Asking God’s blessings for you!

Our new website milicomathersreads.com is accepting reviews for middle reader books–especially those written by middle school students. Message me at readgoodbooks@milicomathersreads.com or in the comments below.

Permissions: You are permitted and encouraged to reproduce and distribute this material in any format provided that you do not alter the wording in any way, do not charge a fee beyond the cost of reproduction, and you credit the author.

Disclosure of Material Connection:  I have not received any compensation for writing this post. I have no material connection to the entities I have mentioned. Restoring the Shattered is published through Morgan James Publishing with whom I do share a material connection. Wandering Swallow is published by EA Books Publishing. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

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Publishing Update: Introducing the Illustrator and the Website

Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour, I Peter 5:8, ESV.

That’s the scripture that comes to mind when I see the image below–a dragon chasing a bird–a swallow. A dragon is not a lion, but Satan is a deceiver and shapeshifter, and he is seeking to devour us.

It’s just one of the illustrations in Wandering Swallow, A Young Girl’s Quest for Freedom. Follow the hyperlink to pre-order the book. Be among the first to have a copy in your hands next month.

Kudos go to the illustrator Lily Hildebrand, one of my remarkable grandkids–each of whom has remarkable gifts. Lily is a high school senior who plays soccer. She’s a trained vocalist, award-winning, as well as an artist. Aside from her inside-the-text illustrations, she also crafted the cover and the logo for milicomathersreads.com (below).

Cover, illustration, and logo images by Lily Hildebrand

Our website milicomathersreads.com is accepting reviews for middle reader books–especially those written by middle school students. Message me by DM or in the comments below.

Permissions: You are permitted and encouraged to reproduce and distribute this material in any format provided that you do not alter the wording in any way, do not charge a fee beyond the cost of reproduction, and you credit the author.

Disclosure of Material Connection:  I have not received any compensation for writing this post. I have no material connection to the entities I have mentioned. Wandering Swallow is published by EA Books Publishing.  Restoring the Shattered is published through Morgan James Publishing. I do share a material connection with my publishers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

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Publishing News!

I’ve been taking a break this summer from blogging, recovering from an intense year of teaching, writing, and working to become a Colson Fellow.

Even though I’ve been pursuing rest, I haven’t been standing still.

Aside from family and quilting time, and yet another round of COVID, I attended a couple of conferences and participated in a mission effort in Northern Ireland. I plan to update you on some of my summer adventures in future posts.

But first, the BIG announcement!

This week, I signed a contract with AE Books Publishing for my middle reader Wandering Swallow: A Young Girl’s Quest for Freedom (working title, working cover, below). Wandering Swallow garnered a first place Sonshine Award at the 2023 Florida Christian Writers Conference and was a Finalist for Writer of the Year in Serious Writer’s 2023 contest.

The story begins in Sinuiju, Chosun (North Korea), in 1995 where thirteen-year-old Hana’s school has closed because of flooding and famine. Her parents and other townspeople have left in search of work and food.

One night, Hana and Grandfather miraculously cross the Amnok River to China. Once inside a safe house, they realize they’ve joined Operation Yellowbird, a covert effort to help Chinese dissidents escape persecution in the aftermath of the Tiananmen Square Massacre of 1989.

Hana and Grandfather and their guide, a survivor of the massacre, must make their way through China to Hong Kong before Chinese police can arrest them. Along the way, they encounter a windstorm, an earthquake, and the effects of underground coal fires.

Along the way, Hana learns about a Savior greater than any human leader preparing her to respond to a still small voice.

Pre-ordering will be available in October with delivery in plenty of time for Christmas!

Wandering Swallow image and logo by Lily Hildebrand.

Our new website milicomathersreads.com is accepting reviews for middle reader books–especially those written by middle school students. Message Milico Mathers Reads on Facebook or in the comments below.

Permissions: You are permitted and encouraged to reproduce and distribute this material in any format provided that you do not alter the wording in any way, do not charge a fee beyond the cost of reproduction, and you credit the author.

Disclosure of Material Connection:  I have not received any compensation for writing this post. I have no material connection to the entities I have mentioned. Restoring the Shattered is published through Morgan James Publishing with whom I do share a material connection. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”