Spotlight on Not Lucille by Mike Steele | Middle-Grade Historical Fiction About Friendship & Identity
“Can a girl who talks too much become friends with one who can’t speak at all?”
Welcome to my stop on the Goddess Fish Promotions spotlight tour for Not Lucille by Mike Steele! This historical middle-grade novel is filled with heart, humor, and the unforgettable voice of a 10-year-old girl determined to connect across silence.
If you're looking for a moving story about unlikely friendship, family secrets, and the power of being heard—keep reading. There's also a $10 Amazon/BN gift card giveaway at the end of this post!
🔷Supporting Deaf Awareness 🎗️ #TurquoiseRibbon🔷
Quick Summary
Not Lucille by Mike Steele is a heartfelt middle-grade historical novel about 10-year-old Lucy, a spirited girl who befriends Florence, a profoundly deaf classmate. As Lucy secretly learns to communicate with Florence, she uncovers hidden family truths and learns what it truly means to be heard. It's a touching story of friendship, identity, and finding your voice in a world that often tries to silence it.
🔻 Keep scrolling to enter the giveaway! 🔻
📝 Book Details
Not Lucille
By Mike Steele
Published by Creative James Media on 06/24/2025
Genres: Historical Fiction, Middle-Grade
Formats: eBook, Paperback
Pages: 254
It’s 1931, and children should be seen and not heard.
Ten-year-old Lucy Contento can’t help but be seen and heard. And she’s always in trouble for it. She talks too much. She’s impulsive. She writes with the wrong hand. Her parents would be mad enough knowing she routinely earns afterschool detentions. They’d be furious if they found out she’s been sneaking onto the campus of the nearby Trenton Academy for the Deaf.
But there, Lucy has met Florence, a lonely and profoundly deaf girl her own age. Florence doesn’t mind Lucy’s flaws. Though Florence can’t speak, she has a unique way of communicating. If Lucy can figure out how to learn Florence’s special language, the two could be friends.
Lucy devises a plan, but it’s going to cost a whopping seven dollars and ninety-eight cents—more money than she’s got. She can’t tell her parents why she wants the funds without revealing she’s been visiting Florence. Besides, her parents don’t have a penny to spare. Her father has been out of work for months. And nobody else in the Contento family has an income. Or do they?
Lucy soon discovers she’s not the only member of her family hiding something. Can she get the money she needs while keeping everyone’s secrets? Or will her scheming land her in the biggest trouble of her life?
In this story of friendship and belonging, a young girl navigates prejudice, punishment, and identity while establishing her voice in a world that often tries to keep her silent.
📚 Where to Find Not Lucille
Available on Amazon:
[amazon box ="B0F6M6D9RN"]
🛒 KINDLE | PAPERBACK
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Do you prefer to shop locally?
🛍️ You can also purchase Not Lucille from your favorite indie bookstore online.
Bookshop.org is an excellent option that supports indie authors—and book bloggers like me—while avoiding the big-box route.
Also available at:
Universal Buy Link
Excerpt from Not Lucille by Mike Steele
“Lucy! Lucy, Lucy! Oh, no, no, no!” Her best friend, Ann Salvatore, burst through the back of the crowd and barreled down the walkway toward her. Ann was normally thrilled to have a chance to wear her green party dress with puffed sleeves. This morning, however, she looked panicked, like she’d witnessed some horrible accident. “No, no, no, no, no!” Sweat pooled on her cheeks as she contorted her face in agony.
“What’s wrong?” Lucy suddenly feared the worst. “Don’t tell me the fifth graders got moved down to the fourth floor.”
“Worse than that. We’re in Miss Gillingham’s class.”
It wasn’t worse, but it wasn’t good news. Miss Gillingham had a reputation for being the strictest teacher at Robbins Elementary, the type to stand in the hall before and after class so she could yell at troublemakers who weren’t even on her roster. Miss Gillingham always taught sixth grade, though. Lucy hadn’t expected the teacher would be a concern for another year.
“She’s on the fifth-grade list,” Ann explained. “Classroom 5A. We’re both in it. She’s going to torture us.”
Lucy rolled her eyes, something she found herself doing often around her best friend. Ann seemed to feel emotions in extremes. She was either ecstatic or devastated, laughing or sobbing, rarely anything in between. Miss Gillingham may not have been Lucy’s top-choice teacher, but she couldn’t be that bad, not bad enough to torture students.
“She’s awful to the good kids,” Ann said. “Imagine what you’re in for.”
📌 Click to Pin Not Lucille to your Middle-Grade Books board!
About Mike Steele
Mike Steele is an elementary school librarian and former fourth and fifth-grade classroom teacher. He has eight plays that are published and licensed for production in the school play market. Not Lucille is his debut middle-grade novel.
Whether writing plays or novels, he enjoys creating characters and situations that make kids laugh. In his spare time, he likes to attend plays and musicals, create mixed-media artwork, and win prizes from claw machines.
He lives at the Jersey Shore with his rescue tabby cats, Karen and Sox. If you spot him in the wild, he usually has a bubble tea in one of his hands.
Final Thoughts
Not Lucille is a wonderful addition to any middle-grade shelf—especially for young readers who enjoy stories about empathy, connection, and finding strength in difference. Thank you to Mike Steele and Goddess Fish Promotions for the opportunity to spotlight this heartfelt debut!
Don’t forget to follow the tour and enter the giveaway below!
🎁 Giveaway!
Enter below for your chance to win a $10 Amazon/BN gift card —courtesy of the author, Mike Steele.
If the above rafflecopter image doesn't play nice, 👉 click here to enter directly
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🙏 Thank You
Thank you to Mike Steele for writing such a thoughtful and empowering story, and to Goddess Fish Promotions for the opportunity to spotlight Not Lucille. It’s always a joy to help shine a light on middle-grade books that celebrate empathy, inclusion, and finding one's voice. 💙📚
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This book appears to be a must read for middle grades & adults.
This looks like a sensational read. Thanks for sharing.
The book sounds absolutely charming. I love the cover art!
This looks like a very good book.
Thanks for blurbing NOT LUCILLE!
Very happy to have you here today!
Thanks for sharing. Sounds really good.
This excerpt is truly intriguing.
The book has a few teachable moments, I'm sure.
Thank you for hosting 'NOT LUCILLE' today!