h team member Sarah Moore. This book, for which Natalie also did the illustrations, tells the story of four best friends who are excited to celebrate the end of the school year with a slumber party when they encounter the most unfriendly girl in the neighborhood who tries her best to intimidate them. Will the girls' party plans be ruined? Or, will they all find a way to come together in friendship.Sewing a Friendship tells the wonderful story of discovering the unique qualities that exist in each one of us and the rewards that can come from making the effort to develop true friendships.
Miss Tinti's book already has been awarded the Silver Medal by Readers Favorite Book Reviews. She has shared her book with her classmates and at community events, and is now being asked to speak at a variety of other upcoming events.
Please visit the Amazon website to purchase Sewing a Friendship.
Please visit Natalie Tinti's website to learn more about her and her upcoming events.
Title of Document: Book Review
Book Title: Sewing a Friendship
Author: Natalie Tinti
ISBN: 978-0-9842625-1-9
Publisher: Tintinatie
Genre and Target Market: fiction; children
Publication Date: 2009
Book Length in Pages: 88
Reviewed by: Sarah Moore
There were countless ways in which I used my imagination with friends in the neighborhood when I was a child. The wooden fences that formed the border of my yard became a pirate ship and the grass was the dangerous water below. Our bicycles became transportation tools for an all-girls’ detective squad that could solve any crime on the playground. When we developed our dance routines in the basement, we really were performing for the MTV cameras. In the time that I spent alone, I poured out all of the creativity that developed in my young mind into countless stories that continued my daily adventures. I recently had the opportunity to read a book by a young author that brought back so many of these wonderful childhood memories. Sewing a Friendship by Natalie Tinti is a beautiful story, both in its physical layout and its message, which I believe will be enjoyed by readers of all ages.
Natalie Tinti offers her readers the story of four best friends who are planning a way to celebrate the end of the school year. They decide to have a “pink sleepover” and are buzzing with excitement over the great night ahead when they encounter their nemesis and elder by two years, Kiki Shaver. Kiki tells the girls of an upcoming group fashion show in which they are too young and too small in number to participate. Rather than using the animosity that Kiki brings to the novel to place the girls against one another, author Tinti develops a way in which all of the girls are able to come together and find common ground. Through these efforts, Sewing a Friendship sends an important message to its readers about seeing through a person’s tough exterior and really practicing the sometimes difficult art of friendship.
The girls, who are all seven years old, are given an authentic voice because the author who created these characters is only ten years old herself. With encouragement from family members and friends, Natalie brought together her short stories and illustrations to form Sewing a Friendship. I am so excited to discover this young female author who is embracing her gifts and displaying the confidence it takes to share her personal creations with others. While I found great enjoyment in so much of Natalie’s work, I had a particular appreciation for her awareness of the diverse personalities that young girls possess and how they all have something to offer. Readers will meet a girl who finds her greatest pleasure in thinking about math, another for whom dancing is essential, and one who knows she is beautiful and wants those around her to recognize it. While there are conflicts between the various personalities, as we all encountered with friendships growing up, the girls find a way to embrace the others’ strengths and work as a team to enjoy a wonderful experience together.
Sewing a Friendship is a gorgeous book with illustrations by the author that will spark their own conversations by the readers. It also is a well-written story that includes relatable characters and language that doesn’t condescend or operate above the level of its intended audience. I am adding this book to the growing collection that belongs to my four-year-old daughter. I look forward to reading it with her in a couple of years, and I hope by then that Ms. Tinti has additional work to share with us as well.
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