Caroline Starr Rose

picture book and middle-grade author

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May B.

Schwartz and Wade (Random House Children’s Books), January 2012

I watch the wagon
until I see nothing on the open plain.
For the first time ever,
I am alone.

May is helping out on a neighbor’s homestead—just until Christmas, her pa promises. But when a terrible turn of events leaves her all alone, she must try to find food and fuel—and courage—to make it through the approaching winter.

This gorgeous  novel in verse by Caroline Starr Rose will transport you to the Kansas prairie—to the endless grassland, and to the suffocating closeness of the sod house where May is stranded. May’s eloquent yet straightforward voice, and her bravery, determination, and willingness to risk it all will capture your heart.

May B. Teacher’s Guide
The Notebook Series: May B. (a behind-the-scenes glimpse into writing the book)

author pic group

Buy the book here:

Penguin Random House Amazon B & N Bookshop

Want a signed copy? Contact Bookworks to order. Be sure to request a signed and / or personalized copy in the “order comments” section.

Awards and Accolades

2013 ALA Notable Children’s Book
2013 Bank Street Best Children’s Books of the Year
Pen Center USA Children’s Literature finalist
2013 Amelia Bloomer Project Title
Publisher’s Weekly Spring 2012 Flying Start
2012 NM-AZ Book Awards, winner, juvenile division
American Booksellers Association 2012 Spring New Voices title
Amazon’s Best Books of the Month for Kids: January 2012 selection
Junior Library Guild selection
Kids’ Indie Next List: Spring 2012

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State Book Lists

  • Kentucky Bluegrass Award nominee (2014)
  • Volunteer State Book Award nominee (2014-2015)
  • New York State Reading Association’s Charlotte Award nominee (2014)
  • Vermont’s Dorothy Canfield Fisher’s Children’s Book Award nominee (2013-2014)
  • Maryland Association of School Librarians’ Black-Eyed Susan Award nominee (2013-2014)
  • Nebraska Golden Sower Award nominee (2013-2014)
  • Kansas Notable Book 2013
  • Missouri’s Mark Twain Readers Award nominee (2014-2015)
  • West Virginia Children’s Choice Book Awards nominee (2013-2014)
  • Young Hoosier Book Award nominee (2014-2015)
  • New Mexico Battle of the Books elementary school list (2014-2015, 2018-2019)
  • New Mexico Battle of the Books middle school list (2014-2015)
  • South Carolina Book Awards nominee (2014-2015)
  • Arkansas’s Charlie Mae Simon Children’s Book Award nominee (2014-2015)
  • Iowa Children’s Choice Awards nominee (2015-2016)
  • Rebecca Caudill Young Readers’ Book Awards nominee (2016)
  • Land of Enchantment Book Award nominee (2015-2016)

Praise for May B.

Starred Review, Publishers’ Weekly Writing with compassion and a wealth of evocative details, Rose offers a memorable heroine and a testament to the will to survive.

Starred Review, Kirkus Reviews If May is a brave, stubborn fighter, the short, free-verse lines are one-two punches in this Laura Ingalls Wilder-inspired ode to the human spirit.

Heroes come in all sizes, and my newest hero is a pint-sized girl named May. She is a girl you’ll be proud to know.
– Karen Cushman

May B.‘s incredible adventure gripped me right from the beginning. You can almost hear—and feel—the cold prairie winds of Kansas whipping through the pages of Caroline Starr Rose’s impressive first novel.
— Deborah Hopkinson

Language as stark as beautiful as the Kansas prairie. A great antidote to the hooked-up, plugged in age.
— Kelly Easton

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