PBParty Entry #30: Song of the River

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GENRE: STEM/STEAM, Lyrical, Informational Fiction

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WORDS: 450

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Query:

Dear Agent,

“A river is always changing, creating, living.”

Once the lifeblood of the Anishinabek, the Rouge River of Michigan became the most polluted waterway in the United States by the 1960s. Song of the River follows the ever-changing journey of the Rouge, from its glacial birth through its struggle against human impact, and embraces the timely theme of conservation.

With the personification found in I am Smoke (Herz/Lopez, 2021) and reminiscent of the first-person voice in The River of Dust (Hoffman/Mello, 2023), this 450-word informational fiction picture book shares one river’s story – and how grassroots action changed the Rouge and its communities, inspiring hope for all rivers.

I am a member of SCBWI, Children’s Book Insider, and the 12 x 12 Challenge, and active in the Writing Barn’s Courage to Create community. I am a current mentee of Bethany Hegedus. My publications include four nonfiction feature articles in FACES Magazine. In 2022, I received a runner-up honor in the #PBChat Mentorship with Jill Esbaum for a fiction manuscript.

Thank you for your consideration and I look forward to hearing from you.

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Excerpt:

Carved by a glacier… I wandered a great land.
Sparkling cold fury,
Clear, rushing-
a force of nature.
My waters hummed with sturgeon, as old as a mighty oak.
Shaded by a cathedral of trees.
Tinted red by sumac bushes, I was the lifeblood of the earth.
Beaver, fox, and deer ran along my banks.
A hymn to life, I lifted my voice to all that was good.

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What inspired you to write this story & what do you have in common with it:

This past summer I joined an environmental cruise down the Detroit River and up the mighty Rouge. The river’s history and ecological struggle moved me to write from the perspective of this amazing waterway. I am actively involved in conservation efforts within the state of Michigan and committed to caring for this river in my hometown. This river made a great comeback (although it still has far to go), and it reminded me of my own despair earlier in life, and the struggle to get up on my feet again.