Megan's Year (3 page)

Sister taps me on the shoulder. “You're daydreaming again, Megan,” she says. “What are you thinking of?”

I tell her I'm dreaming of summer and being on the road.

She shows me how I can get pictures on the computer of places all over the world. “That's a kind of traveling, too, Megan,” she says.

Home from school I see Daddy working on the caravan. I climb inside the caravan. There's our cooking pot and skillet. I think of all the campfires we sat around, watching the sun turn gold and slip behind the hills. I remember falling asleep in the caravan at night and then awakening first thing in the morning to see where we are. Is it someplace we want to be? Or a place we've never been before? What will it be like?

I stick my head out the window and tell Daddy I can't wait until we take off. Daddy says even when we're living in the
tigin
we are still Travelers in our hearts. That's true, for though my two feet are in Dublin, my heart is already hurrying down a road toward summer.

There are approximately 25 thousand Travelers (spelled
Travellers
in England and Ireland) in Ireland. Forced off their meager farms by English landlords and by the potato famines, the Irish took to the roads. Some found itinerant (moving from place to place) life to their liking. They married other Travelers and over the years a culture of traveling developed.

As farm acreage turns into suburbs, Travelers are giving up their way of life and migrating to the cities. The Irish government has tried to provide accommodation for Travelers and the schools make a special effort to meet the needs of their children.

Like Megan's father, my father liked the roads. On our vacations, even after a long day's drive, my father set off with us to explore our new surroundings. “Let's mosey around,” he would say. My father instilled a wanderlust in me I share with Megan.

Buffers:
outsiders (people with permanent homes)

Caravan:
camper or trailer

Euro:
the currency of Ireland and of the countries in the European Union

Gammon:
a secret language used by Travelers, sometimes called
Shelta

Garda:
the Irish police

Tigin (also tigeen):
the Irish word for a small hut or house

Turf:
dried-out peat sod used for fuel in fireplaces

A poet and author of many award-winning children's books, Gloria Whelan received the National Book Award for her young adult novel,
Homeless Bird
. Her other picture books in Sleeping Bear Press's Tales of the World series are
Waiting for the Owl's Call, Yuki and the One Thousand Carriers
(2008 Society of Illustrators Gold Medal winner), and
Yatandou
(a Junior Library Guild selection). Ms. Whelan lives near Lake St. Clair in Michigan where you can often find her out walking.

Beth Peck loved doing the research for
Megan's Year
and learning the history of the Irish Travelers. She found it fascinating to view the beautiful, informative, photographic, journalistic documentation of the Irish Traveler community (and would love to visit Ireland where the story takes place). Ms. Peck has illustrated many books for children, including
Just Like Josh Gibson
(Angela Johnson) and
Music for the End of Time
(Jen Bryant), which is based on the true story of French composer Olivier Messiaen writing one of his most famous quartets in a WWII labor camp. Ms. Peck lives in Menomonie, Wisconsin.

To review other titles and downloadable teachers' guides
go to:
www.sleepingbearpress.com
.