“Heartening and thought-provoking... The Codger and the Sparrow simply tells an entertaining tale well worth telling. Love can be out there if we look for it and if we allow ourselves to be found by it.” — Lone Star Literary Life. 5 stars.
“This well-crafted story will appeal to anyone who grew up in the '80s. Fans of Stand by Me will also enjoy this trip back in time. Although at times wistful, it’s not a purely nostalgic ode to growing up, but a genuine, moving and irresistible meditation on the value of friendship.” — BlueInk Review (Starred Review)
“An amusing yet heartwarming romp... To Squeeze a Prairie Dog is an entertaining slice-of-life story that's humorous yet uplifting at the same time. By the novel's last page, readers will be longing for more.” — BlueInk Review (Starred Review)
Photo by Jeff Loftin
Scott Semegran is an award-winning writer of nine books. BlueInk Review described him best as “a gifted writer, with a wry sense of humor.” His latest novel, The Codger and the Sparrow (Paperback from TCU Press, Audiobook from Vibrance Press), is a comical yet moving story about a 65-year-old widower’s unlikely friendship with a 16-year-old troublemaker. His eight previous books include The Benevolent Lords of Sometimes Island, which was the first place winner for Middle-Grade/Young Adult fiction in the 2021 Writer’s Digest Book Awards, and To Squeeze a Prairie Dog, which was the winner of the 2020 IBPA Benjamin Franklin Award Gold Medal for Humor. He lives in Austin, Texas with his wife. They have four kids, two cats, and a dog. He graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a degree in English...