This award-winning story of a gritty farm girlâs quest to master the daring sport of pole-vaulting is being republished as a mid-grade classroom reader on June 1, 2021, with discussion questions to help students reflect and regroup following the pandemic that has disrupted their lives.
(Upper-Mid, YA, Adult Appeal)
When tragedy strikes the Steele family farm at harvest time, Maggie finds herself grinding the gears of the old grain truck, trying in vain to replace her older brother, Alex, who has died in a car crash. Returning to school for what shouldâve been a happy senior year, Maggie feels too depressed to do anything she once enjoyed before her life turned upside down. Instead, she retreats to the hayloft of the creaky old barn where she and her brother once played. Discovering a forgotten bamboo pole buried in a pile of straw, she embarks on a secret quest to teach herself how to pole vault. When track season begins, Maggie becomes a sensation as the schoolâs first girl vaulter, until a wicked storm shatters her dreams. Drawing courage from the voice within, Maggie gets back up and tries again, and again, soaring into a future of her own making.
This award-winning story of a gritty farm girlâs quest to master the daring sport of pole-vaulting is being republished as a mid-grade classroom reader on June 1, 2021, with discussion questions to help students reflect and regroup following the pandemic that has disrupted their lives.
(Upper-Mid, YA, Adult Appeal)
When tragedy strikes the Steele family farm at harvest time, Maggie finds herself grinding the gears of the old grain truck, trying in vain to replace her older brother, Alex, who has died in a car crash. Returning to school for what shouldâve been a happy senior year, Maggie feels too depressed to do anything she once enjoyed before her life turned upside down. Instead, she retreats to the hayloft of the creaky old barn where she and her brother once played. Discovering a forgotten bamboo pole buried in a pile of straw, she embarks on a secret quest to teach herself how to pole vault. When track season begins, Maggie becomes a sensation as the schoolâs first girl vaulter, until a wicked storm shatters her dreams. Drawing courage from the voice within, Maggie gets back up and tries again, and again, soaring into a future of her own making.
Here in Grain Valley Township, we donât have paid professional firefighters or emergency rescue crews to rescue us. We rescue ourselves.
My dad has been a volunteer fireman since he was eighteen. Carries his emergency radio everywhere, fastened to the belt of his jeans. At night, his radio sits on his nightstand. When it goes off, he springs out of bed no matter what time it is. It doesnât happen every night or even every week, but it happens often enough for me to worry about him. Which is too often, I'd say.
Like the time Dad and the other volunteers got called out of our little church on Sunday morning. The preacher was leading us in the Lord's Prayer when beeping radios went off all over the sanctuary. We said an extra prayer for all the men who up and bolted for the door that day.
Being a volunteer firefighter seems exciting and I've thought about becoming one myself next year, when I turn eighteen. I know I could do what they do, if given a chance. But being a fireman is strictly a guy thing around here.
It would be exciting to be one, but at the same time, it's dangerous and stressful to go out on emergency calls. For one thing, you never know what kind of accident you'll be responding to, or how bad someone is hurt. And for another thing, since everybody knows everybody else around here, thereâs a good chance that whoever desperately needs your help will be somebody you know.
Now it was just after eleven o'clock on Friday night, June third, almost a year ago, when Dad and Mom and I heard the radio alarm. I was in the bathroom washing my face and getting ready for bed when Dad rushed from the bedroom toward the kitchen and dashed out the back door to his pickup.
The radio screeched, âTwo-car crash, cars on fire, three miles east of Grain Valley on 39 Highway,â as the screen door slammed. The engine roared and tires spun on the gravel as he sped away into the night.
When the alarm goes out, whoever gets to the firehouse first opens the big metal doors, and starts one or both of the fire trucks, depending on how serious the call is. The other men show up within two or three minutes, pulling their coats and gloves on, on the run.
Mom came out from the bedroom in her robe, fussing with her short, graying hair. With the radio gone, the house was quiet. We heard sirens wailing through the screen door. Both trucks were on the roll.
âSounds like a bad one, Maggie,â Mom said, brow furrowed. âHave you heard from Alex and Caleb?â
âNot since before supper,â I said.
âWhy donât you call. See where they're at.â
I hit the speed dial on my cell phone for my brother, Alex, but it went straight to voice mail. âHey, thereâs a wreck on the highway, and Mom wants to hear from you guys.â Then I speed-dialed my boyfriend, Caleb, but got the same result, voice mail.
After that we just sat there at the kitchen table, as the clock ticked, and the refrigerator hummed, and the crickets chirped. We had no way of knowing what Dad would find out there on the highway. We sat there for twenty minutes or so, but nobody called.
Finally, Mom said, âWell, maybe theyâre still at the movies.â
I nodded. âOr maybe they're just out of range.â We get lousy cell phone coverage here in rural Kansas.
They say there's a special bond between a sister and her brother, that they always know when the other one is in serious trouble or something's gone terribly wrong. Since I didn't have any bad feelings, I thought Alex and Caleb were fine. I expected them to roll in any minute, laughing and joking around, heading straight for the fridge to eat us out of house and home.
Whoever it was out there in that awful car wreck, I was sure it wasn't them.
I couldn't have been more wrong.
CHAPTER 1 QUESTIONS
1. What do you think Maggie and her parents thought as soon as the
alarm went off?
2. Do you ever get those weird feelings when you know something
just isnât right?
3. Is that your gut, your heart, or your brain reacting?
(For a digital Press Kit for this title, contact grainvalleypress@gmail.com)
Maggie Steele lives on the farm her family has kept for generations in the small town of Grain Valley where everyone seems to know everyone else. For much of her life, Maggie has been content to participate in the annual farm duties while finding time for her brother Alex, her best friend Betsy, and her boyfriend Caleb. However, one fateful night in the summer before her senior year of high school, everything in Maggieâs world shifts on its axis, and she must find a way to right herself amidst the chaos left behind.
This newly released edition of Maggie Vaults Over the Moon is perfectly designed as a classroom read. Each chapter ends with thought-provoking questions to encourage readers to consider the events critically and better understand the messages within the story. Short chapters and accessible, emotional text keep the pages turning as Maggie navigates her grief and learns a new way to live her life.
Placed in rural Kansas, this story encapsulates many of the sights, sounds, and flavors of the American Midwest. From lemonade and sweet tea to corn on the cob and fried chicken, readersâ mouths will be watering as they imagine themselves inside sprawling wheat fields under a cloudless, blue sky. Readers will easily become immersed in Maggieâs world through the descriptive language used in this story.
As is true for much of the American Midwest, church is a focal point of Maggieâs community. While Christianity makes several appearances throughout the book, however, it is not a significant driver of the plot. Love and friendship layer on top of the stages of grief as Maggie and her family struggle to emerge from their despair and see the world in a new light.
At once a story about overcoming tragedy and an inspiring tale of chasing oneâs dreams, this is an excellent choice for young adults who see the myriad possibilities life holds. Additions like a foreword by Olympic pole vaulter Katerina Stefanidi and an afterword of suggestions for how to pursue pole vaulting encourage interested readers to learn more about this skill-driven sport. Classrooms and homes alike will embrace the excitement and emotion of this memorable story.