Rhonda H. Bishop and Cass Barth
Sophia is a military child whose single mother is being deployed to Iraq. Her life begins to change when she moves to the shores of Virginia with Grandma and Grandpa during this difficult time. The love of her grandparents and the ocean with its sandy beaches brings comfort to Sophia during her mother's absence.
Rhonda H. Bishop has worked with young children for more than 20 years. It was just three years ago that she began working with young children of military families at Wright Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio. It has been a life changing experience which lead to the writing of "The Ocean Between Us." This is her first book.
Illustrator, Cass Barth, has dabbled in the arts all of her years as an elementary teacher. Retirement has allowed her to become a serious artist. Her illustrations for "The Ocean Between Us" are colored pencil on saturated card stock.
My name is Sophia and I love to play in the sand. I used to play in the sand table at the daycare and the sand box at the park, and now I can play at the beach.
When we moved to Viginia, Mommy took me out to the beach and told me that soon she would have to take a trip to the other side of this ocean to a place called Iraq. Iraq would have lots of sand too. While she was gone, it would be my job to make Grandma and Grandpa smile.
