Magazine stories from
CRICKET, SPIDER, and CICADA
Countless thanks to Madeline and Ran Erskine for sharing their family stories about long-ago Maine with me.
CRICKET MAGAZINE
"Sail by the Moon," January 1997
• SCBWI Magazine Merit Award for Fiction
Chester (aka Grandpa Erskine) builds an iceboat and learns to sail alone in the 1890s.
"Never Go Home Without A Fish," June 2001
Christopher and Uncle Johnathan stay out fishing for a day, a night, and another day – until they catch a fish.
"Almost A Hanging," January 2002
A scary, but true, tale about George, a teenager in the California Gold Rush
SPIDER MAGAZINE
"Katje and the Kinderdijk," January 1996
An early version of the story that became Katje the Windmill Cat.
"Windmillers Old and New", January 1996
People have worked with windmills for hundreds of years, but the windmills and the jobs have changed a lot.
"Little Mary and the Big Bear", May 1998
Mary was a dauntless soul and proved it to everyone in this true adventure from Maine in the 1820s.
"An Irish Maid in Bethlehem", December 2000
A Christmas legend of St. Brigid from Ireland.
CICADA MAGAZINE
"Bluster and Trouble Up North", Jan/Feb 2000
George travels north to the Maine woods back in the 1850s and learns some hard growing-up lessons.