Who wouldn't want to go to a 300-year-old school of magic, wave a wand, and learn to fly? But this girl falls off her broom, gets her spells wrong, and isn't sure her cat really is a familiar spirit. All because her ears don't work as well as everyone else's. But once Caitlin Leo finds her real community, everything changes. [Kimberley A. Shaw; (2014) 382 pages; soft cover]

About the Author

Kimberley Shaw of Roslindale MA is pleased to announce publication of her first novel, A Handful of Spells by Savvy Press of Brooklyn, NY. The adventures of its hard-of-hearing protagonist are based on her own mainstreamed experience, and the book is dedicated to the memory of Richard Bettcher, former English teacher at CRHS, who was himself hard-of-hearing.

Her discovery of American Sign Language, which she did not begin learning until her late thirties, is central to the theme of A Handful of Spells which incorporates many ideals of the signing Deaf community. Thanks to various adult-ed and immersion programs, Kim has ASL-interpreted various choral concerts, most recently for A Besere Velt " a 90-voice Yiddish chorus, which is based in Boston, MA.

Despite having a "reverse-slope" hearing loss from birth, Kim is a lifelong musician, beginning in church choir at age 8. She currently plays trumpet for two Boston-area marching bands, and is a proud member of Bugles Across America.
Books are similarly a lifelong passion, eventually leading to an MLS from Simmons College. She is an acquisitions & serials associate at Wellesley College, where German (her MHC undergrad major) is one of several languages she uses for tracking down sources to obtain needed materials. She is a 1988 graduate of Mount Holyoke College and first got acquainted with schooners while growing up in Camden, Maine, where she graduated CRHS in 1984.