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Betty Culley lives in central Maine, where the rivers run through the small towns. She's an RN who worked as an obstetrics nurse and as a pediatric home hospice nurse. Three Things I Know Are True is her debut.
Told in spare, evocative verse, The Name She Gave Me is a love letter to anyone finding their way home. Betty Culley's characters have worked their way into my heart and will stay with me long after finishing their beautiful story. - Joy McCullough, New York Times bestselling and National Book Award-longlisted author of Blood Water Paint Variously scarred by past addiction, poverty, bad health, and bad luck, the well-drawn characters... largely prove resilient and kind. An adoptee herself, Culley writes with insight and nuance about biological families and those formed in other ways. The direct, straightforward poems effectively flesh out the characterization and are accessible to reluctant readers. Compassionate and compelling. - Kirkus Reviews Praise for Three Things I Know Are True: Culley's compelling free-verse poems accumulate into a poignant story of a family that was already struggling and then transformed into something unrecognizable. Liv's narration is touching, honest, and perceptive. A story of love and resilience as much as loss and grief. - Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books (starred review) Introspective and inquisitive Liv's free-verse narration vividly explores the rift between her family and Clay's; memories of her late father; and the difficulty of surviving in her economically depressed small town. Above all, her spare, blunt lines convey her love for Jonah; her exhaustion and loneliness as her friends and overworked, overwhelmed mother grow distant; and the nuances of guilt and forgiveness. Liv's struggle with the little animal / inside her that yearns for attention even as she acknowledges that Jonah needs everything is piercingly realistic. A poignant, humanizing exploration of a sadly timely issue. - Kirkus Reviews An emotional journey that follows a life-altering tragedy. Culley weaves carefully chosen details into a slowly forming tapestry. A tale that is both harrowing in subject matter and elegant in execution. - ALA Booklist A heartbreaking story about a topic that is too prevalent in today's society. - School Library Journal ? Eloquent narrative verse. Culley deftly captures the community's nuanced responses and the heartbreak both families navigate as this devastating tragedy becomes a political battleground. - Publishers Weekly
