Valerie Sherrard

This is an excellent book about a teen who lies to protect a friend from what she believes is sexual abuse from her stepfather. The relationships amongst the group of young girls are particularly well done. The story moves along at a great pace, and never lets you down. It doesn't take long for Shana to discover that her friend Carrie has lied to her - and about more than the abuse. Carrie is the only character who is a little over-the-top, but she is really so interesting and scary that it show more doesn't matter. The moral dilemmas Shana has to face are exceptionally well-handled, the structure is great - I enjoyed the moral complexity of the girl's situation, and found how she handled it realistic and moving. The author really doesn't put a foot wrong in this incredibly well-told tale. show less

Curly-headed Jamie bemoans the fact that their mother doesn't celebrate what they're good at - namely, building - like she does for big sister Lynn's drawing talents and big brother Marcus' storytelling. The problem, it transpires, is point of view: when Jamie climbs up to see mom's POV, "it really IS a big mess!" So they invite mom to come "down here," and then she agrees, "You will be a great builder someday." This author/illustrator team understands the power and creativity of childhood show more imagination - as well as what that sometimes looks like from the outside. show less

Reviewed by Carrie Spellman for TeensReadToo.com

Sarah Gilmore and her mom, Maggie, are poor. Not living on the street, destitute, but living in an apartment without much money for anything other than food and bills. Until one day when what seems like a miracle happens. Maggie's Great Aunt Sarah, whom the younger Sarah has never met, has passed away, and left everything to them. There are only two conditions to the will. The first is that they must live in Aunt Sarah's house until Sarah is show more done with school, which means relocating from Ontario to New Brunswick. The second is that they have to take care of Aunt Sarah's pets, which turn out to be five cats, four dogs, a parrot, and a skunk.

Everything in their new life seems to be going well in short order. They are settling into the house, Sarah has a few friends at school, and Maggie might have a boyfriend. Sarah has some problems with the mom/boyfriend thing, but she's working on it. Until she accidentally insults him, in public, while he's standing behind her, and ruins the budding relationship. Her only salvation becomes the journals she finds in a hidden compartment in Aunt Sarah's hope chest.

Through Aunt Sarah's journals, the younger Sarah gets to know this distant aunt who changed her life. Most importantly, she learns about loneliness and love.

This was a beautifully written book. It made me grateful for the time I've had, and still have, with my family. There are some subplots and questions that are brought up once and never touched again, which is a little confusing. Younger Sarah is a wonderful character, you don't always like her, which somehow makes her more lovable and real. Overall, I really liked this book. It made me feel warm and cozy, and I'm going to go bake my Grandma's bread recipe now. show less

If you could imagine 14 year old Ann of Green Gables dying of brain cancer, you would know the heroine of this book. And, she is a heroine, the way she deals with her dying and the way she finds time and understanding for other people’s problems. And she narrates her situation with humour and power of observation. She is a voice telling the story that actually makes you want to listen and read to the end without putting the book down. Everybody else in the book is a little too good to be show more true, but the book has some really good messages. Also, the fact that it comes from the author’s personal experience (she went into her daughter’s bedroom one day just to find her dead) redeems it of any sentimentality that’s there. show less