Tracy Holczer

Wow to a debut novel with Newbery quality!
The book begins as Grace, twelve years old, is trying to will herself to walk up to her mother's coffin so she can lay a gardenia on the smooth brown wood. Grace has been placed in the care of a grandmother she has never met. When Grace's mama was seventeen, She finds herself pregnant. What does a mother do? She puts her on a bus to stay with a Texas relative. But gets off the bus in California and never contacted her mother again. Now, after mamas sudden and tragic death, Grace, angry and devastated, is left to figure out a brand new life. This touching story of a tender twelve year old girl living with a grandmother she thinks doesn't want her leads the reader on a poignant and heartfelt journey.… (more)

Wonderfully earnest. The author wanted to get in everything she wants children, esp. MG girls, to learn. Poetry as music and poetry as meaning, art from salvage, healthy friendships, patience, wonder, Sadako's cranes, leukemia, mummies, first love, small towns, restless spirits, journal-keeping, horses, teen pregnancy, death (many times over), guilt.... And it's a pretty long book, so it all fits. In fact, it's surprising how gracefully it fits.

Otoh, I couldn't immerse myself in it. I guess I'm too jaded a reader... I've seen it all before... and I just didn't fall in love with any of the characters here.… (more)

The story details the emotions of a young girl as she copes with the death of her mother and the transitions to her new home with her maternal grandmother from whom who mother with estranged from since before the young girl's birth. The emotions described are deep and raw. The young girl, Grace, struggles with forming a relationship with her grandmother and feelings of disloyalty towards her mom.
This story serves as a good reminder to adults about the baggage that we saddle our children with when we do not resolve the issues we have with another family member. It also is a good reminder too that we should think about our words and actions at time of great personal sorrow remembering that someone's death is never just felt by any one person, that others too are affected. Every parent faced with a pregnant teenager should heed this tale of caution. I can personally attest to a lifetime of anger and deep hurt felt by friends who became pregnant at 18 years of age when their parent(s) spoke words stemming from disappointment. It is very simple: we often do not get to determine how and when someone will enter and leave our lives so it behooves us to choose our words wisely.… (more)