
A girl must prove her patchwork coat holds the community's cherished stories.
In a small Appalachian town, young Minna faces a harsh winter without a coat. After her father's passing, the community crafts a patchwork coat from fabric scraps. As Minna wears it to school, she must convince her classmates that each piece tells a story, weaving together the memories of those around her. Can this coat of many tales bring warmth and unity to her world?
In this charming historical novel, acclaimed artist Lauren A. Mills reimagines her beloved picture book, The Rag Coat, with fifty delicate pencil illustrations and an expanded story about a resilient little girl, her patchwork coat, and how the two bring a community together. Minna and her family don’t have much in their small Appalachian cabin, but “people only need people,” Papa always reminds her. Unable to afford a winter coat to wear to school, she’s forced to use an old feed sack to keep her warm. Then Papa’s terrible cough from working in the coal mines takes him away forever, and Minna has a hard time believing that anything will be right again…until her neighbors work tirelessly to create a coat for her out of old fabric scraps. Now Minna must show her teasing classmates that her coat is more than just rags–it’s a collection of their own cherished memories, each with a story to share.
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