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age range: 9-12 years
genre: contemporary fiction
PB&J Society Rules
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Janet Sumner Johnson’s website

Please tell us about your book.

Some things are better together. Like peanut butter and jelly. Or Annie and Jason. So when her best friend’s house is threatened with foreclosure, Annie Jenkins is bursting with ideas to save Jason’s home. She could sell her appendix on eBay. (Why not?) Win the lottery. (It’s worth a shot!) Face the evil bankers herself. (She’s one tough cookie, after all.) Or hunt down an elusive (and questionably real) pirate treasure. Whatever the plan, it has to work, or this is undoubtedly The Last Great Adventure of the PB & J Society.

What inspired you to write this story?

I originally started writing this book based on memories from my own childhood. However, that version of the book was all over the place and not very good, so I shelved it. When I read through it many years later, Annie and Jason were so much fun, I couldn’t let them go.

Around that same time, the housing crisis was in full swing, and foreclosures were becoming all too common. I had some friends facing this, and I wondered how it affected their children. It was an easy connection to have Annie and Jason face this conflict, and the book grew out of that.

Could you share with readers how you conducted your research or share a few interesting tidbits you learned while researching? 

My book, while not historical in and of itself, does have bits of history which required research here and there. Most of my research came after the first draft on an as-needed basis. For what I needed, simple internet-based searches worked fine, and I would usually fact check across various sites. However, I did use my Dr. Husband for some medical questions. Very useful to have an expert in the house!

One interesting thing I learned in my research is that Peanut Butter used to be called Peanut Paste. Sounds gross, right? John Harvey Kellogg (Yes, that Kellogg) patented a peanut-butter-making process in 1898. However, even though most information that I found credited Mr. Kellogg as the first patent-holder, a Canadian gentleman named Marcellus Gilmore Edson actually received a U.S. patent for his own peanut-butter making process in 1884. Maybe they ignore him because he’s Canadian? Maybe because his name isn’t as recognizable? I don’t know. But I thought that was interesting.

Another thing I learned is that peanut butter, apparently, wasn’t as tasty back then. It was invented for people with bad teeth who couldn’t chew. Who knew?

What are some special challenges associated with writing contemporary middle-grade fiction? 

I love writing contemporary fiction because it is easy to identify with the characters and their circumstances. They face stuff we deal with in a very recognizable way. But one of the challenges is that time marches on and things change very quickly.

For example, in an earlier draft of my book, I made some references to Twinkies. And then BOOM! Hostess went bankrupt and Twinkies were gone. Just like that. I had to do an emergency edit and cut those references all out.

Of course, we all know that Twinkies are now back, but I decided it was better to keep them out.

Also in an earlier draft, I referenced iPods a lot. My editor rightly suggested that those are now out-dated, and kids have moved on to iPhones. Really, what I should be learning is not to use brand names in my writing!

But even then, you can’t always know what to avoid. In another book, I had one character telling another to “Let it go.” After a certain Disney movie was released, I couldn’t read the passage the same anymore, and had to change it.

In short, it can be tricky to keep a contemporary feel to a contemporary book when it takes years to write and publish it.

What topics does your book touch upon that would make it a perfect fit for the classroom?

There are quite a few discussion topics in my book, both serious and fun.

On the serious side:
-foreclosure
-moving
-making/being a friend
-parent’s job loss
-growing up

On the fun side:
-brain freeze
-pirates
-treasure maps
-ways to earn money
-soccer

Click through to sign up for my quarterly newsletter and you’ll receive a free printable from my novel, Blue Birds. Enjoy!

The post Classroom Connections: The Last Great Adventure of the PB&J Society by Janet Sumner Johnson originally appeared on Caroline Starr Rose

I few weeks ago I shared a link to a blog post by teacher Colby Sharp. In it he talked about picking up a middle grade book and feeling like he’d seen it all before. Then he read these words by author Linda Urban:

Reviewers say: “Not *another* sad animal book!” or “Had my fill of theme X!” You are adults. You have been reading a long time.

— Linda Urban (@lindaurbanbooks) July 31, 2015

Colby went on to say “middle grade books are not about you and me” (in other words, the adults out there).

I’ve thought so much about Colby’s and Linda’s words these past few months. They’ve helped me solidify some of my ideas about children’s literature, actually. While I will always, always, always believe a good book is a good book for everyone, regardless of age (though not all books are for every reader, which is another discussion entirely), Linda has reminded me that children’s literature is first and foremost for children.

Of course I know this, but I think sometimes I bring an outside perspective (as both reader and writer) that doesn’t always serve the work best. Rather, this is where I’d like my focus to be:

• If this book is for a young reader, what is it they’ll discover that will be meaningful and ring true?
• What am I willing to say as an author that might feel trite or old news to the grow ups but could be new and important to young readers?
• Am I willing as a reader not to have my needs met first when I am reading middle grade?

I’m curious what readers here think.

Click through to sign up for my quarterly newsletter and you’ll receive a free printable from my novel, Blue Birds. Enjoy!

The post Middle Grade Books Are Not About You and Me (With a Nod to Colby Sharp and Linda Urban) originally appeared on Caroline Starr Rose

Today I’m going to answer specific questions and respond to some comments left in the reader survey I mentioned last time.

If you ever host a writing workshop online or in person I’d love a chance to sign up.

If you’re in Albuquerque, you’re in luck! I’ll be offering a three-hour workshop about writing picture books on August 20. It will run from 1:00pm to 4:00pm at Erna Fergusson Library (3700 San Mateo Blvd NE). The event is free if you are a member of SCBWI.

If you’re ever curious about things like this, you can click through to my events page and learn more.

I’m embarrassed because I don’t know if I subscribe to your newsletter.

If you’d like to subscribe but don’t know how or aren’t sure if you’ve already signed up, simply click here and enter your name and email address in the spaces provided. I send out the newsletter roughly four times a year. Sometimes newsletter readers get special privileges blog readers don’t.

A heads up: I’m going to build a launch team for my Klondike novel using newsletter readers only. That means a select number of subscribers interested in participating will get a free, early copy of the book! All I ask in return is you leave an honest review at Amazon and one other online review site. Subscribers, look for a newsletter with more information in a few months.

And finally, here are some blogs that come recommended by regular readers (some reading and writing related, some not). Thank you for sharing some sites that are new to me, too!

The post Answering Your Questions originally appeared on Caroline Starr Rose

When you blog, it’s hard to have a sense of who is out there listening. It’s also tricky when it comes to knowing what readers connect with and what they don’t. Conducting occasional surveys helps me to get a feel for regular readers (and helps me define what regular even means).

Results were really interesting. Of those who took the survey, 100% were female. You can see the age break down above. I was surprised and encouraged by the huge age range. Sometimes I wonder if the experiences of a middle-aged children’s author are meaningful to others. I worry I might not be talking broadly enough when I share my own writing “story”. Not only does the variety of readers tell me yes, you are engaged in what’s happening here, a number of you told me you come back to the blog for the following reasons:

I love the way you write about your creative process – it’s informed, purposeful, and yet so human.

Your honest voice, your encouragement, your stories…

I love the thoughtful articles on writing, the quotes, and links to good reading. And mostly, you.

I like the writing resources and your experiences with publishing/marketing your own books.

 

And my favorite:

You feel like an old friend.

83.3% of regular readers consider themselves an author or aspiring author. 66.7% are readers. As a result, you’re most interested in posts about writing, publication, and reading. Posts on historical fiction and inspirational quotes ranked close behind.

Most regular readers followed me over from Blogger, but many started reading in the last year or two.

Most first found my blog through Facebook…

… and visit a few times a month (You see from the chart above a “regular reader” can mean a lot of different things).

Almost all regular readers find out about new posts through Facebook, a reader, or through an email subscription (which is available as a sign up in the side bar).

More next time on some specific questions and comments readers shared.

For those of you who are regulars, a huge, huge thank you for letting me into your world and your inbox. There are a number of reasons why I continue to blog, and one of them is the satisfaction that comes from having an immediate audience (There’s no two-year lag time, like is often the case with a book). Thank you for listening and caring and responding. Thank you for loving my books and spreading the word. It means the world to me.

Click through to sign up for my quarterly newsletter and you’ll receive a free printable from my novel, Blue Birds. Enjoy!

The post Survey Says originally appeared on Caroline Starr Rose

KidLit Auction for John and Betsy MacLeod

Click through to sign up for my quarterly newsletter and you’ll receive a free printable from my novel, Blue Birds. Enjoy!

The post KidLit Auction: Bid on a Verse Novel Critique originally appeared on Caroline Starr Rose

I just had a wonderful stroke of luck that bailed me out of a big ole boneheaded error I made yesterday. It is the kind of error that I have a certain notoriety for — not all the time, just once in a while, when I am on overload and stop reading email all the way through, forget to review checklists, and otherwise put myself in a dangerous position with decision-making. The stroke of luck was due to someone who had a solid sixth sense that something was not quite right.

This error reminded me of my most illustrious “did not read the memo” gaffe, which I share here for the first time ever.

At my last university, I was invited to participate in a university president’s inauguration ceremony and quickly scanned the invitational email. Wear regalia and process to a stage? Sounds easy enough! Ok, on to the next problem!

But after we were seated (on a large, brightly-lit stage facing audience of oh, several hundred), I gradually realized that everyone else on stage was getting up one by one, and giving a speech. My hands started trembling. I had no speech. I looked out into the audience. There were the other library people, gazing calmly at their fearless leader. I mean, if anyone likes to give a speech and can knock one out of the park, it would be me, right? The woman who has presented seventy-bazillion times?

My mouth turned to ancient parchment and I could feel cold perspiration wending its way down my torso. I suspect if you had been able to see my eyes, they would have been two fully-dilated orbs in my panicked face. I could feel the hair on my head whitening.

Out of about two dozen people on stage, I could see that I was scheduled to go next to last. The speakers walked to the podium one by one. What to do, what to do?

Breathe. What tools did I have at hand? Breathe. I have a small paper program for the inauguration. Breathe. What is going on with the speeches? Breathe. Observation: the speeches are mostly too long. Breathe. Try to still my hands. Notice that the audience is getting restless. Breathe. Smile out at the audience. Breathe.

It was my turn–a turn that for once in my life came far too quickly. I walked to the podium, looked out at the audience, and smiled. I slowly unfolded the small program and frowned at it for a moment as if it were my speaking notes while I mentally rehearsed the two or three points I would make. I began with a joke about not wanting to speak too long. Other words, now forgotten, ensued, as I winged it onstage. I could hear laughter and appreciative rustling, though I was so anxious my vision was too blurred to see past the lectern for the next two or three minutes. I summed up my speech by noting that the university, like our library, was small and mighty, a joke which if you know me has a visual cue as well.

As soon as I was outside, I owned up that mistake to my team. Not to brag about getting through a disastrous mistake unscathed (well, maybe a little), but also to fully claim my error. This situation was awful and funny and educational, all at once. It was about my strengths, but also about my weaknesses. I believe I slept 14 hours that night. It became part of our library lore.

There were many clues that I was in the vulnerability zone for error yesterday. Distraction, overflowing email, too many simultaneous “channels”; I had even remarked the previous week that I was trying hard, but sometimes not succeeding, at not responding to email messages while I was in a face-to-face meeting.  The people I was interacting with were equally busy and besides, it wasn’t their job to see that the conditions for making major errors had become highly favorable. That was my job, as the senior mechanic in charge of this project, and I wasn’t doing it.  Clues abounded, but as my overload factor increased, I missed them — a classic case of being unaware that I was unaware. And I ignored the checklist sitting in front of me just waiting to help me, if only I would let it do so.

I had excellent training in the Air Force about the value of using checklists, and I have touted their use in libraries. People often need convincing that checklists work and that checklists are not an indication that they are somehow dumb or stupid for not being able to extemporize major tasks, even though there is a preponderance of evidence underscoring their utility. In aircraft maintenance, failure to follow checklists could, and sometimes did, cost lives; even when lives were not at stake, failure to follow checklists sometimes led to expensive errors. And yes, for yesterday’s mistake, there was a perfectly reasonable checklist, but I didn’t review it. Just as there were email messages I didn’t read all the way through, and just as I didn’t catch that I wasn’t shifting my attention to where it needed to be.

As I reflected today about awareness, checklists, and stumbling toward errors, I looked outward and thought, this is what this presidential campaign feels like to me. There are cues and signs swirling around us, and an abundance of complementary cautionary tales spanning the entire history of human civilization. Anger, vulgarity, and veiled hints at violence abound. The standards for public discourse have declined to the point where children are admonished not to listen to possible future leaders. We worry, with half a mind, that what looked like a lame but forgettable joke a few months back is simultaneously surfacing and fomenting a restless ugliness that has been burbling under the body politic for some time now. We watch people dragged away and sucker-punched at rallies as they clumsily try to be an early-warning system for what they fear lies ahead. We have all learned what “dog-whistle” means–and yet as the coded words and actions fly around us, we still do not understand why this is happening. We sit on this stage, programs wadded in our sweating hands, watching and watched by the restive audience until our vision blurs; and we do not have a checklist, but we do have our sixth sense.

Bookmark to:

It’s been a long time since I’ve conducted a reader survey. I’d love to hear what first brought you here and what (I hope!) keeps you coming back.

The survey is nineteen questions long and should take five minutes, maybe ten if you have a lot to say. It is also anonymous. I won’t know who you are unless you choose to identify yourself somehow. Please know you can be completely candid. Simply click through to begin. Thank you to Sheila of The Deliberate Reader for letting me tweak a survey she used a couple months ago.

Thank you so much for reading here, friends!

Click through to sign up for my quarterly newsletter and you’ll receive a free printable from my novel, Blue Birds. Enjoy!

The post Tell Me What You Think originally appeared on Caroline Starr Rose

I listened to this book on my way to Mosquero and was so taken by its closing lines I checked out the hardcopy to share them with you:

There are so many ways to fail that it’s hard to pick which one is right for you. The possibilities are limitless, and the world is your failure playground. You can fail in ways you won’t even be able to predict. You’ll dive into things you’ll never finish, and finish stuff that stinks. Sometimes you’ll try really hard, and that won’t be enough.

Some people have good intentions, and end up failing anyway…but that’s not true for everyone. There’s no way to succeed at failing either. So fail the best you can: try something new, be brave, make mistakes*.

*This reminds me of Neil Gaiman’s “make glorious and fantastic mistakes,” part of his exhortation to those who wish to make great art.

Click through to sign up for my quarterly newsletter and you’ll receive a free printable from my novel, Blue Birds. Enjoy!

The post Wisdom from How They Choked: Failures, Flops, and Flaws of the Awfully Famous originally appeared on Caroline Starr Rose

I love all things Gretchen Rubin, writer and podcaster extraordinaire who’s an expert on habits and happiness. She reads extensively and daily shares a Moment of Happiness quote to “remind you to make choices in your ordinary routine that will boost your happiness.” Here’s a recent favorite:

Happiness is essentially a state of going somewhere wholeheartedly, one-directionally, without regret or reservation.
-W.H. Sheldon

Click through to sign up for my quarterly newsletter and you’ll receive a free printable from my novel, Blue Birds. Enjoy!

The post Wholehearted in One Direction originally appeared on Caroline Starr Rose

There is something beautiful and clarifying and terrifying all at once in being at the beginning… To be a beginner is to be full of hope-filled humility, to be overflowing with eager expectation that is simultaneously held in check by the obvious gap between your aspirations and current abilities. To be a beginner is to be pregnant with dreams but nascent with skill, and then to set about the work of cultivating the life of both.
— Michael Yankoski, The Sacred Year

The post To Beginners and Ever-New Beginnings appeared first on Caroline Starr Rose.

Blue Birds is a celebration of friendship, and I can think of no better way to celebrate the book’s paperback release next month than a giveaway meant for you and your friend. Each winner will receive two signed paperbacks and the two notecard packets shown above. One is for you to keep, the other to give to your friend.

There will be four different ways to win, meaning I’m giving away eight books and notecard sets. You can enter all four giveaways, increasing your chance to win.

Interested? Curious? Ready to learn more? Once January’s here, I’ll give you more details, but for now, it wouldn’t hurt to find a quote about friendship that’s meaningful to you and hunt down a picture of you and your friend.

The post A January Giveaway: Four Ways to Win a Blue Birds Prize Pack for You and a Friend appeared first on Caroline Starr Rose.

The post The New Mexico – Arizona Book Award appeared first on Caroline Starr Rose.

The post Thanksgiving Day Prayer appeared first on Caroline Starr Rose.

“…part of living well in ordinary time is letting this day be good. Letting this day be a gift. Letting this day be filled with plenty. And if it all goes wrong and my work turns to dust? This is my kind reminder that outcomes are beyond the scope of my job description.”

The post This Day: Wisdom from Simply Tuesday appeared first on Caroline Starr Rose.

Fire starter!

This felt extra fitting as May herself does something similar with a part of her school book.

The post New Use for Old Manuscripts, Take 2 appeared first on Caroline Starr Rose.

One of the best parts about speaking to young readers is the totally goofy, fun, original things they say. This is one of the many things I miss about teaching. Good thing every author visit offers a couple gems.

Last week while I was in Chicago, a boy told me he’s building a sod house in his backyard (!). I’m not so sure his parents are aware of this fact. I got him to agree to send me a picture.

A brother and sister team decided they wanted me to write my favorite line from May B. in their copy of the book. My line is pretty weird and kinda foolish on May’s part, but oh so very brave. They still wanted it when I told them, right above my signature. Those two went home with a book that says “Wolf, show your face.”

(This isn’t the oddest thing a child has asked me to write. Last year a boy here in Albuquerque wanted me to sign the front of his notebook not as Caroline but as…King Kong. You better believe I did it.)

Another Illinois kid asked if I could sign my name and also leave her a message in secret code. She didn’t seem concerned that I don’t know any sort of codes, let alone secret ones. In the end, I used my typical May B. tagline with an special twist — Courage and hope and “secret code”.

On a more serious note, a lovely young lady told me she could relate to May because she’s been an outsider, too. She’s new to the US, having grown up in Korea, and says like May, she’s struggled with reading because she’s working with a new language. And guess what? Her mom is using May as a way to learn English herself.

What an absolute privilege (and a hoot!) it is to work with kids.

The post Off-the-Cuff Conversations with Kids appeared first on Caroline Starr Rose.

I’ve been a fan of Tsh Oxenreider since 2009 (which is pretty much forever on the Internet). Back then, I was just about ready to jump into this thing called blogging, but I wasn’t sure how to begin. My dear friend Jamie Martin sent me a “how to” link that led me to Tsh’s blog, The Art of Simple. I’ve been faithfully reading ever since.

About four years ago, Tsh started a podcast called The Simple Show, which has kept me company through numerous runs and cleaning days and afternoons walking the dog. And perhaps last summer, as I listened while taking the dog on one more lap around the block, I cooked up some things I’d say to Tsh if I were ever on her show. Which was utterly ridiculous. Tsh and I had interacted some in her blog’s comment section and a few times on Twitter, but that was pretty much it.

So imagine my surprise when September brought an email with a podcast request. “No worries,” Tsh said, “if you’re not interested.”

I was most definitely very over-the-top interested. I hope you’ll listen in!

The post So Wow. The Simple Show Podcast appeared first on Caroline Starr Rose.

Check out the loveliness from opening day at the 43rd Annual Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta!

The post Balloon Fiesta! appeared first on Caroline Starr Rose.

I’m not sure thank you adequately expresses my appreciation for those of you who read here, but those are the only words I have. I hope you sense the weightiness and heart behind them:

Many thanks to those of you who read this post and wrote Amazon reviews for May B., Blue Birds, and Over in the Wetlands. It took time and reflection as well as true interest and love on your part, and I am so grateful.

Thank you for the bolstering words many of you left (including the lovely gift from my neighbor pictured above) when I let you know I needed some encouragement to finish my first-round edits. I’ve returned to your comments many times these past weeks. They kept me working to the very end.

When I started blogging six years ago this month, I had no sense of the rich and enduring connections I’d make as a result. For those of you who have been here from the beginning or have joined in sometime afterward,

thank you,

thank you,

thank you.

The post Overwhelmed with Gratitude appeared first on Caroline Starr Rose.

Twenty-three years ago this summer I backpacked down the Grand Canyon’s Kaibab Trail with seven kids from my youth group and came up Bright Angel a week later. Each day we packed our gear at three in the morning so we could begin our hike before the heat kicked in full blast. By the last morning of the trip, I was utterly spent. The steep climb out of the canyon left me feeling like maybe I wouldn’t make it. Maybe I’d be stuck on that trail forever.

I stopped moving about a half mile from the canyon’s rim, unsure how to muster up the strength to keep going. It didn’t matter I could see the end. Getting there felt near impossible.

That’s when I experienced a simple act of kindness that has lived with me ever since. My youth sponsor, Jim, told me I wouldn’t finish alone. We’d make it to the top together, one hundred steps at a time. Step by step we counted, resting after every set. While before the half mile had felt unsurmountable, broken down in tiny bits with someone else to walk beside me, it was doable. It was accomplishment and gratitude and so much celebration.

As I near the end of a complete manuscript overhaul in the midst of first-round edits (the second time I’ve re-written this book, by the way), I’ve thought a lot about that moment. I’m a few weeks out from my deadline, and honestly, I’m not sure of the words needed to make it to the end. Right now my focus must be each tiny writing moment, where the story moves forward, step by step.

Friends, I need an extra dose of courage and a second wind, if you have any to offer. Things will be quiet around here until I’ve turned my work in.

The post Step by Step, Word by Word appeared first on Caroline Starr Rose.

Cease endlessly striving for what you would like to do and learn to love what must be done.
– Goethe

The post Cease Striving appeared first on Caroline Starr Rose.

The talented Sierra Fong designed these gorgeous Over in the Wetlands and Blue Birds bookmarks for me, and I’d love to send you a set! I also have stickers of both covers. If you’d like one of each, simply drop me an email with your mailing address (caroline starr AT yahoo) and I’ll send them along. I’m happy to give you any combination you’d like: four Wetlands stickers, two Blue Birds stickers and two Wetlands bookmarks — whatever you choose.

Teachers, librarians, homeschool families, book club folks, I’m also offering a class set (for lack of a better term) to the first ten people who contact me. This would be up to thirty bookmarks and stickers of your choosing. Again, tell me what would best serve your group, and that’s what you’ll get, whether it’s a Blue Birds pack, a Wetlands pack, or some combo in between.

And now for the request I have of you. I’m not one who feels especially comfortable asking for this, but fair or not, I’ve learned how vital this thing can be to a book’s life and success. The thing I’m talking about is the Amazon review. I have to admit I’ve never liked being asked directly for a review. There’s pressure and expectation and a bit of ickiness all rolled into one. So if you feel as I have, you are utterly free to ignore this. But if you’ve read any of my books and enjoyed them, I’d be super grateful if you took a moment or two to write a quick note on Amazon.

Here are quick and easy links to find my books there:

May B.
Blue Birds
Over in the Wetlands

Thank you, friends, for your faithful support and enthusiasm. I look forward to sending out oodles of bookmarks and stickers.

The post Free Bookmarks for Readers…and a Review Request appeared first on Caroline Starr Rose.

My boys and I just re-discovered this particular book. Thought it would be fun to share with all of you again!

Rustle up some silly kids.
Spread out on the kitchen table.
Set up a chart.

Number your pages.

Create a Choose Your Own Adventure Story.

The post New Use for Old Manuscripts appeared first on Caroline Starr Rose.

Instead of a launch party for Over in the Wetlands, I lead story time at the Albuquerque/Bernalillo County Library‘s Cherry Hills branch. Think stories, games, coloring pages, and gator cookies.

Reading Wetlands by Cathryn Sill.

Explaining the three things we needed to “make” a hurricane: wind, waves, and rain. Look at that handsome boy of mine on the right!

And the other handsome one! (Incidentally, this is what happens when the Rose boys take over the camera).

The post A Wetlands Story Time in Pictures appeared first on Caroline Starr Rose.

From SCBWI-NM:

Veronica Bartles and family are due to move back to Maryland this August. While on a trip back to Maryland to check on their home, Veronica discovered some pipes had burst. There was water damage to the entire house, and it was overtaken with mold. The insurance company won’t cover any of the damage because the damage wasn’t found soon enough, voiding the policy.

Veronica Bartles has been a vital part of our local chapter of SCBWI for the last few years. She and her family are facing not only a move but an enormous financial responsibility in repairing their home. On their own. Emily Moore has arranged an auction to raise money for the Bartles family, and I’ve donated an ARC of Blue Birds and a finished copy of Over in the Wetlands. Opening bids start at $10. If you are a writer, there are a variety of other items that will interest you, from critiques to phone consultations with writers and agents.

Blue Birds auction page
Wetlands auction page

I encourage you to consider participating and would be thrilled if you spread the word. The auction closes Friday, 7/31.

The post Help Author Veronica Bartles: Bid on Blue Birds and Wetlands appeared first on Caroline Starr Rose.