The Way to Stay in Destiny by Augusta Scattergood
Augusta Scattergood will be at Lemuria signing her newest book for middle-grade students on Thursday, April 16 at 4 PM!
What a fabulous book! It takes place in Destiny, Florida, 1974, but the story transcends time and place and will feel relevant for young readers today. There’s piano playing, baseball cards, and a girl who doesn’t want to go to dance class. At it’s heart, this book is about a boy who has been afraid to wish for much his whole life, and once he does, he realizes that maybe Destiny isn’t a place you can escape.
From the best-selling author of Glory Be, a National Public Radio Backseat Book Club pick, comes another story from the South, this time taking place in 1974. Theo, (short for Thelonious Monk Thomas), has just had his life uprooted. His uncle Raymond takes him away from the Kentucky farm where he lives with grandparents and drags him off to live in Destiny, where the welcome sign says, “Welcome to Destiny, Florida, the Town Time Forgot.” Uncle Raymond, a Vietnam War Vet and a grump, is none-too-happy that he’s been saddled with the responsibility of taking care of his long-lost nephew.
Theo and Uncle Raymond stay at Miss Sister Grandersole’s Rest Easy Rooming House and Dance Academy in a room above the tap studio where there is a grand piano, bigger than any piano Theo’s ever seen. Theo loves to play the piano—in fact, he lives and breathes music. That, and baseball. In 1974, Hank Aaron has passed Babe Ruth in the number of home runs hit. Theo finds a friend in Anabel Johnson who loves baseball just as much as he does. The mayor’s daughter, Anabel is always coming up with excuses to miss her tap dancing classes and enlists Theo’s help on an extra-credit project to prove the Atlanta Braves stayed in Destiny in their off season. Between piano lessons from Miss Sister and working on the “Baseball Players in Destiny” project with Anabel, Destiny starts to feel like home for Theo. Only problem is, Uncle Raymond doesn’t allow Theo near the piano, and is more concerned with how to get them out of Destiny just when Theo wants to stay there. In one of the best lines of the book, Miss Sister tells Theo, “That’s what happens. You start off dreaming one thing about your life. But you have to be ready for what turns up.” Will Theo make it to Destiny Day, the 100th anniversary of the town’s existence, or will he be whisked away once more?
Destiny, it seems, has a hold on a person, whether they want to stay or not.
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