Drew's Doodles are special... they come to life and are her friends. But they can be a bit mischievous which sometimes causes issues with her friends. In an effort to create something new and bigger Drew draws Levi a leviathan. But Levi feeds into her emotions and goes rogue. Can Drew and her friends find a solution?
I am not typically a graphic novel fan but I loved this!
It has been a year since Laney's sister died in an accident. It will be the first summer without her at the cottage near the ocean. Can Laney's family recover? Can Laney make new friends and forgive herself?
Unfortunately for me this story never had much depth... too many things happening but I never really felt connected to any of the characters or the conflict.
This was quite the interesting book - historical and a bit of a mystery as well. It starts out on the morning of a new children's library dedication and Julie and her sister Martha find a baby on the library steps. Julie, who would love a new baby sister, picks up the baby and starts to take her to a nearby army base. Bruno, a former best friend, sees this and follows. Then the story goes back to events leading up to that and we hear Julie, Martha, and Bruno's take on different things. Everything is revealed in bits and pieces until it all becomes clear in the end. It is an interesting bit of storytelling and I can see teachers working with students to dissect it. I enjoyed it.
Miriam is not happy that her family has moved from the only life she knew to a rundown town in upstate NY to run an equally rundown motel. She does make friends quickly with Kate whose grandmother runs a diner next door and with the maid Maria who teaches her Spanish but unless things pick up soon they will all go bankrupt. When Kate and Miriam "see" a face in the cracks of an old drive in they make it seem like it is the Virgin Mary - which is weird since Miriam is Jewish. The sighting catches on bringing lots of business to town but Miriam feels guilty about fooling people. With the new found fame comes some racist graffiti and Miriam's mom, who struggles with an incident from her past, isn't sure she can stick around. But when near tragedy strikes they found out what a real community is.
This was a good story. I like seeing more books where people of different backgrounds are acknowledged, appreciated, and accepted.
The Home for Friendless Children is not the greatest orphanage. Lucy and 3 other children find an opportunity to run away and take it. But the people in charge come after them. Fortunately the children find someone to help and after a few days they find themselves at a circus. All 4 children are hoping to find a job with the circus but Lucy s having the most trouble because she has stopped talking. She finally gets a job working with a baby elephant but then the people in charge catch up to her and take her - and only her - back to the orphanage. But why? Why is she some important. Interspersed with this is Lucy's sister who has finally found out where Lucy is and is trying to get her back. Will Lucy ever be reunited with her sister and get back to the circus?
I really liked this historical fiction book. Lucy and her friends were good characters and there was some interesting context with a study on selective mutism. I wish there had been a bit more between the 2 sisters because I felt that the action lagged a bit until that subplot really got moving.
