Lovely, spare story -- the short chapters make it relatively unintimidating. A good story about a stutterer finding her voice; the rural New England setting is somewhat unusual, as is the solitary survivalist aunt character. But honestly, in most ways it isn't especially distinct from other "flaky mom abandons kid(s)" stories, and I haven't found that it stuck with me. ( )

admit it. I have a thing for scratchy old farm women who are hard on the outside, soft on the inside and full of solutions to life's problems. That's why I like Richard Peck's A Year Down Yonder and A Long Way to Chicago. And that's also why I like Tending to Grace by Kimberly Newton Fusco. Grandma Dowdel and Agatha Thornhill are birds of a feather, scruffy old hags with hearts of gold.

When city-bred fifteen year old Cornelia is thrust upon her country Aunt Agatha because her mother is running off to Las Vegas with her boyfriend, C-c-c-cornelia's world is torn apart. She is sure her mother will be coming back soon, even though the signs point elsewhere. Because of her stutter, Cornelia tries to be invisible. Agatha won't hear of it. She's a 'stand up for yourself' type of person.

Fusco's writing is so expressive, from the beginning, comparing Cornelia's life to a clothesline, through to the end, as both Cornelia and Agatha learn things about the other. Tending to Grace has mountains and frog races and fiddleheads and fun. It's a feel good book, so feel good and read it. ( )

Cornelia’s mother runs off to Vegas, leaving her with her aunt, who will force Cornelia to stand up for herself while providing a love and life unfamiliar to the girl. Readers will love Cornelia, who is stronger than she thinks. They will empathize with her as she tries to adjust to a life she’s not used to, sometimes succeeding and sometimes not. They will love the way the author blends themes—Cornelia’s struggle with her stutter, missing her mother, teaching her friends to read. So many issues are addressed it would be easy to glaze over one or more, but Fusco manages to give all the attention they deserve. The metaphors of the postcards and Cornelia’s aunt’s words of wisdom add an extra layer of depth that will appeal to thoughtful teens while not stranding the less contemplative. Cornelia herself is immensely loveable and relatable. Teens who struggle will identify with her, and when she discovers her own strength of reading rather than speaking, they will see their own strengths. She is not a cliché—though she has to take care of her mother, she is still very much a teen, as her resistance upon living with her aunt shows. The ending is subtle, finishing with a quiet continuation of life rather than a sudden climax and resolution, and yet it is so appropriate it still leaves the reader satisfied. ( )

I read a book this morning; a wonderful, short, evocative, uplifting book called Tending to Grace. It’s a young adult novel, and I have to admit, I love the way so many young adult books are so lyrically written, tightly edited and refreshingly focused. It made a lovely way to center my thoughts at the beginning of the day.

Tending to Grace is written from the point of view of a high school sophomore whose mother leaves for Vegas with the boyfriend, dropping daughter off with an elderly eccentric aunt in the countryside. The short scenes never revel in the young girl’s thoughts, simply placing them there to be read on the page. Take it or leave it. This is who she is. But slowly the hard shell round Cornelia begins to crack. And the wounded space at the center of Aunt Agatha’s heart breaks open. Lives and futures are changed, while a wooden outhouse surprisingly fails to tip open and the spiders’ webs get cleaned.

I love the way Cornelia’s story expands to encompass her aunt’s, her mother’s, the little girl’s whose father is out of work, the librarian’s, and even the teachers’. I love the way Cornelia’s entry into other people’s lives through books becomes a door opening to her own. And I love the feel of different worlds colliding when city girl meets country home, when silent rebel begins to confess the delight of reveling in words.

Most of all, I love the way the author pulled me into a young girl’s pain, through her shell, into her heart, and showed the space that each of us can make if we open our minds. ( )