Writers and editors often talk about the importance of the first sentence and the first page. If a story doesn’t hook a reader from that first page, you’re sunk — kids especially will not waste their time on a book that doesn’t hold their interest. Thus it was with great interest I was hooked by opening page of Kathryn Fitzmaurice’s debut novel, The Year the Swallows Came Early. I am unapologetically a California native. I’ve lived there twice, once as a child and once as an adult, for a total of about 16 years — they …

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