Books

Blue’s River

Andie Grove must do one more assignment before she graduates from the fifth grade and spends her summer days swimming at Silver Lake. There is only one problem. She is terrified of public speaking.

Old Blue loves history and has been the guardian of the Saint Jones River for 400 years. There is only one thing that he fears more than great-horned owls and bald eagles: the destruction of his river.

For centuries, Blue’s river has taken great care of people and other living beings, always giving them what they needed.

Now the river has reached the point where it cannot give anymore.

Old Blue believes Andie is the right human to save his river.

Together, they travel through history where Andie learns how and why her town of Dover, Delaware, developed along the Saint Jones and how a growing population took advantage of a generous river.

Can a ten-year-old girl who is afraid to do a simple speech save Blue’s river?


The Author

Kathleen Marie Doyle is a writer and teacher committed to education, the environment, and democracy. Her interest in social and environmental justice was nurtured at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and her commitment to education was inspired by the work of Ted Sizer at Brown University. She lives with her husband in Dover, Delaware, where they are empty nesters with seven goldfish.

The Artist

Marsha Holler is an artist and graphic designer with roots in printmaking. After a career in screen printing her artwork on apparel, she now indulges in creative wanderlust. She journeys with a sketchbook, whether it’s on an interstate or in her own backyard. She and her husband live outside of Dover, Delaware.

Blue’s River is supported, in part, by a grant from the Delaware Division of the Arts, a state agency, in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts. The Division promotes Delaware arts events on DelawareScene.com

Finding Pop Pop

When a young child’s grandfather comes to live with him, they become best friends. When Pop Pop gets ill, he tells the child, “My spirit will always be with you.” After Pop Pop dies, the child searches everywhere for Pop Pop’s spirit and discovers the healing power of happy memories.

Finding Pop Pop is supported in part, by a grant from the Delaware Division of the Arts, a state agency, in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts. The Division promotes Delaware arts events on DelawareScene.com

Allies for Justice: How Louis Redding and Collins Seitz Changed the Complexion of America’s Schools

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal. 

Almost two centuries after the Declaration of Independence affirmed that all men are created equal, the laws of the land – especially those governing America’s school system – still implied the opposite. 

Many people are familiar with Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, but few people are aware that Brown was actually made up of five separate cases, including a crucial one from Delaware. 

Louis Redding, Delaware’s first Black attorney, was the nation’s first attorney to win a public school desegregation case, and Chancellor Collins Seitz, one of the highest ranking judges in Delaware  became the nation’s first judge to suggest that segregation was unconstitutional. Their case became a part of Brown. Without Louis Redding and Collins Seitz, the Brown decision could have turned out very differently.

With an engaging narrative style, Kathleen Doyle’s Allies for Justice situates the historic fight for desegregation right where Delaware students live. Readers will learn how Delaware history became U.S. history, playing a key role in the heroic story of the U.S. Civil Rights Movement.

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