The Impossible Destiny of Cutie Grackle

by Shawn K Stout (Author)

Reading Level: 4th − 5th Grade

Do you believe in impossible things? Cutie Grackle does. She has to. Otherwise, she'll never be more than a lonely 10 year old in a cursed family.

Cutie Grackle is used to being different--she lives alone on a mountain with her feeble-minded uncle, and when she's not sucking pebbles to trick her stomach into feeling full, she's chatting with a weathered garden gnome for company. But having a flock of ravens follow you is more than just different. Cutie worries the birds are connected to the curse Uncle Horace tends to mutter about. And she's right.

The ravens present her with a fortune from a cookie, and when she touches it she's pulled into a vision from her family's past. It involves the curse and her long-lost mother. The birds offer up a series of objects, each imbued with memories that eventually reveal Cutie must do what her mother could not: break the curse.

Part outdoor survival adventure, part fantastical quest, Shawn K. Stout's The Impossible Destiny of Cutie Grackle is a journey of hope, heart, and a willingness to believe in the impossible.

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Kirkus

An intriguing story from an author who deserves more acclaim.

School Library Journal

Gr 3-7--Part suspense, part mystery, part adventure, and all intrigue, this is an engrossing story set in the rural mountains of West Virginia, where the closest neighbor is 15 miles away. Ten-year-old Cutie Grackle leads an abnormal life, complete with a shack on top of a mountain that she calls home, an uncle as a guardian who is never present, and a curse that has been around for decades. Cutie has to grow up quickly and become the "adult" in her home. Since her parents are gone and her uncle is not always lucid, Cutie becomes self-dependent and tries to meet her own needs, though she is fortunate to have the help of one kind mentor who takes her to visit the local food pantry each month. She is so lonely she creates friends out of inanimate objects, such as a garden gnome. Readers will sympathize with the conditions of Cutie's home life. She knows nothing of her father and has only been given the name of her mother, though she knows there is some type of curse connected to her and possibly to her disappearance. Will Cutie be able to figure out the curse and find a way to break it? Will her luck and life circumstances change, or will she be stuck on the desolate mountain top, with a hunger for food and friends, forever? VERDICT A compelling hybrid tale of realistic survival and supernatural adventure; fans of Kate DiCamillo will enjoy the style of writing in this unique middle grade novel.--Megan Honeycutt

Copyright 2022 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Review quotes

"Navigating sensitive topics like unequal food access, disabilities, and the loss of one's parents, the approachable adventure novel The Impossible Destiny of Cutie Grackle conveys empathy for both people and nature."Foreword Reviews

"Cutie is a practical and intuitive narrator, picking up on clues the ravens leave her and making astute observations about her life in poverty and the factors that keep her there. Stout depicts the tumultuous circumstances of Cutie's life sensitively. . . ."The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books
Shawn K Stout
Shawn K. Stout is the author of several books for young readers, including A Tiny Piece of Sky (Philomel/PRH), which was a Bank Street Best Book. Shawn holds an MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults from Vermont College of Fine Arts. She lives in Maryland with her family. Visit her at www.shawnkstout.com
Classification
Fiction
ISBN-13
9781682635513
Lexile Measure
-
Guided Reading Level
-
Publisher
Peachtree Publishers
Publication date
May 14, 2024
Series
-
BISAC categories
JUV002040 - Juvenile Fiction | Animals | Birds
JUV039030 - Juvenile Fiction | Social Themes | Death & Dying
JUV037000 - Juvenile Fiction | Fantasy & Magic
Library of Congress categories
-

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