Alice Atherton's Grand Tour by Lesley M. M. Blume

The heartwarming story of a young girl sent to live with the extraordinary Murphy Family in southern France.

Ten-year-old Alice Atherton is sent by her father to spend the summer with his dear friends the Murphys who live with their three children and pet monkey in the French Riveria. There, Alice will meet and learn from some of the most extraordinary luminaries of the time. She visits a junk yard with Pablo Picasso looking for objects to make into art, performs a dance inspired by celestial bodies with the renowned Ballet Russes, and imagines magical adventures with Zelda and F. Scott Fitzgerald.

An uplifting story that will appeal to readers who love books by authors like Kate DiCamillo and Jeanne Birdsall.

Story Locale: The French Riveria

Lesley M. M. Blume is an award-winning journalist, historian, and bestselling author. She is the author of several critically acclaimed middle-grade novels, including Cornelia and the Audacious Escapades of the Somerset Sisters, Julia and the Art of Practical Travel, The Rising Star of Rusty Nail, and Tennyson, which the Chicago Tribune praised for its “brilliant, unusual writing.” Her adult books include Fallout: The Hiroshima Cover-up and the Reporter Who Revealed It to the World and Everybody Behaves Badly: The True Story Behind Hemingway’s Masterpiece The Sun Also Rises.

Author Residence: Los Angeles

Author Hometown: New York City