Happy 80th, Gunilla B. Norris! (Poet & spiritual writer)

[l***@yahoo.com]

Her books for adults are written under Gunilla Norris. She was born in Argentina and now lives in Mystic, Connecticut. She's also a psychotherapist.


https://homeboundpublications.com/joy-norris/

Excerpt:

"Gunilla Norris’ parents were world travelers in the Swedish diplomatic corps and so she grew up essentially in three places—Argentina, Sweden and the United States. As a child she was given a rich exposure to different languages and cultures. She received her B.A. from Sarah Lawrence College and her M.S. from Bridgeport University in the field of human development."

http://gunillanorris.com/
(her site)

From "Contemporary Authors":

"Some of Norris's books are set in Sweden, including A Time for Watching and The Top Step. The former is the story of Joachim, a young boy who sets about doing a number of things to break the boredom of his lonely summer. He becomes interested in a clockmaker, Gubban, who repays him with scorn. By story's end, though, the two have befriended.

"The Top Step is a rather serious tale about Mikael, a Swedish lad burdened with asthma and a father who doesn't comprehend his affliction. Mikael's father encourages him to frolic vigourously and Mikael sets himself the goal of outgrowing the asthma before his birthday. The birthday passes and still Mikael suffers from asthma. However, his father begins treating him as an adult and the book ends with Mikael being extended an invitation to join his father on his walks in the country.

"Another of Norris's books, The Good Morrow, is equally solemn in its tone. In it, Josie, a black girl, leaves the city for a stay at a summer camp. There, she encounters animosity from a fellow camper. Because the girl is white, Josie assumes that she is the victim of prejudice. In the end, Josie assumes that she is the victim of prejudice. In the end, Josie discovers the real reason for the other girl's behavior, which has nothing to do with skin color. Robin Gottlieb described it as 'a tense story which...touches the mind but not the heart.'"

(end)

I read "The Friendship Hedge" as a teen - and it is GRIM. I suspect it's based on a true story, sadly.

https://www.google.com/search?q=%22gunilla+b+norris%22+books&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwihwMicyJ7hAhWlT98KHQslAQYQ_AUIDygC&biw=1266&bih=814
(a few book covers)


https://www.google.com/search?biw=1266&bih=814&ei=X3SZXLTRBInk_Ab85LrgCw&q=gunilla+norris+kirkus&oq=gunilla+norris+kirkus&gs_l=psy-ab.3..33i160l2.1117.6648..6825...0.0..0.96.761.9......0....1..gws-wiz.......0i67j0j0i22i30j0i7i30j0i30.7v8sv02J1ug
(Kirkus reviews)

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6247573.Gunilla_B_Norris
(reader reviews of her juvenile books)

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/202219.Gunilla_Norris
(reader reviews)


https://friendsofsilence.net/quote/author/gunilla-norris
(quotations)

https://www.google.com/search?biw=1266&bih=814&tbm=vid&ei=Q3SZXJKiH8aP5wLGn5mQBA&q=%22gunilla+norris%22&oq=%22gunilla+norris%22&gs_l=psy-ab.3..33i299k1l2.5563.5718.0.6040.2.2.0.0.0.0.86.149.2.2.0....0...1c.1.64.psy-ab..0.2.149....0.p7urLuR4kUs
(videos)



WRITINGS BY THE AUTHOR:
Juvenile:

The Summer Pastures, Knopf, 1965.
A Feast of Light, Knopf, 1967.

Lillan, Atheneum, 1968.
("Lillan is a sweet story of a young Danish girl reeling from her parents separation. If her mother could stop loving her father, Lillan wonders, would she stop loving her, too? Lillan has to cope with being the only child who eats her lunch at school; with the arrival of a tenant who rents out their living room; and with the introduction of her mother's new friend.")

The Good Morrow, Atheneum, 1969.
A Time for Watching, Knopf, 1969.
Take My Waking Slowly, Atheneum, 1970.
The Top Step, Atheneum, 1970.
Green and Something Else, Simon & Schuster, 1971.
If You Listen, Atheneum, 1971.
Josie on Her Own, Scholastic Book Service, 1972.
The Friendship Hedge, Dutton, 1973.
Standing in the Magic, Dutton, 1974.

Other:

Learning from the Angel (poems), Lotus Press (Detroit, MI), 1985.
Being Home: A Book of Meditations, Bell Tower (New York), 1991.
Sharing Silence: Meditation Practice and Mindful Living, Bell Tower (New York), 1992.
Becoming Bread: Meditations on Loving and Transformation, Bell Tower (New York), 1993.

[l***@yahoo.com]

"The Summer Pastures"
"Three Swedish children hope to prove to their elders that they are old enough to go to the summer pastures."

"A Feast of Light"
"Story about an immigrant girl from Sweden and her new home in the U.S."

"The Good Morrow" (aka "Josie on Her Own")
"A black girl goes to camp for the first time and is convinced that the loud aggressive girl who shadows her is tormenting her because of color prejudice."

(The illustrator for that one is Charles Robinson, who illustrated Robert Newton Peck's later books in the "Soup" series - plus "The Mysterious Shrinking House.")

"A Time for Watching"
"Joachim likes to take things apart and put them back together again, but everyone wants him to just be a good little boy and stop getting in trouble. He wants to see what's in Mr. Janson's (a watchmaker's) house."

"Take My Waking Slow"
"When he moves with his parents into the New York City housing project, Richie hopes life for them will improve, but he soon finds out it never will."

"Green and Something Else"
"A young boy is determined to have the mouse he sees in the shop despite all the fears he must overcome to attain it."

"If You Listen"
"Lia considered wealth constricting and boring but just beyond the boundaries of the summer home was a friend who helped her form a new concept of herself."

"The Friendship Hedge"
"Alice's determination to teach her best friend a lesson about the guinea pig that has come between them leads to a painful lesson for both girls."

"Standing in the Magic"
"Brady says he can use the ring he found in the sandbox to make magic. As far as Joel is concerned, all Brady's stories seem to be true, even though his mother says Brady is a liar from a trashy family."


Lenona.