Hoopi Shoopi Donna

Growing up in a small New England town, 14 year-old Donna Milewski had all she needed: a grandmother, Babci, whose fragrant cooking filled their home...her mother, Helen, who lovingly stitched outfits...and Adam, the most wonderful father a daughter could imagine, who dreamed she could one day lead an all-girl polka band.

Then came Betty, a tiny and adorable five-year-old, sent from Poland by Adam's destitute brother. Bringing with her only a rubber doll's leg and her old-world charm, Betty became the little sister Donna never had -- and a threat to her father's love. During a long and painful rift, a dance of betrayal and hurt, Donna must look to her beloved polka music for the key to healing.

Suzanne Strempek Shea grew up in Three Rivers, Massachusetts where she listened to Polish music, ate Polish foods, recited Polish prayers, and heard Polish histories. Her second floor apartment was across the street from Pulaski Park, also known as 'The Polka Capital of New England.' She attended a Catholic elementary school, and in first grade began the years of accordion lessons that would make her the hit of family gatherings. After graduating from Maine's Portland School of Art, Shea began writing features for the Springfield Union-News and was a fashion editor of the Providence Joumal Shea lives in Bondsville, MA, with her husbond, Tommy, a columnist for the Springfield Union-News. Hoopi Shoopi Donna was chosen as a New England Booksellers Association "Discovery of the Month" book.