Cape Cod

The Summer of Owen Todd by Tony Abbott

| Tasha

The Summer of Owen Todd by Tony Abbott

The Summer of Owen Todd by Tony Abbott (9780374305505)

Owen and his best friend Sean are looking forward to the perfect Cape Cod summer spent playing baseball, driving go-karts at Owen’s family’s business, and just messing around. But then Sean’s mother hires a babysitter for him for the summer even though he’s eleven years old, because she has a new job out of town and Sean has diabetes that she worries about. She also won’t let Sean head to the go-karts anymore. Owen tries to spend a lot of time with Sean anyway, but their summers steadily head in different directions. When Sean tells Owen that his babysitter is treating him strangely, Owen can’t tell how serious the problem is. Sean swears Owen to secrecy and seems fine a lot of the time. But other times, when Sean shares more of what is happening, Owen can’t tell if Sean is lying or not. When Owen realizes that it is all true, it may be too late to save his friend.

Abbott has created a book about the beauty of summer as a kid. That theme contrasts with the darkness of sexual abuse that is also central to the story. It’s a book about friendship and what it takes to be a best friend, break a confidence, and tell. It’s also a book about being a kid, the epic nature of summer break and growing up. Abbott beautifully contrasts Owen’s experiences with the trauma that Sean is going through.

This book simply because of its theme may be too mature for some readers. The way the abuse is dealt with offers just enough details for young readers to understand the seriousness of what is happening but not too much to overwhelm them. This is a book that demands to be discussed and will leave readers feeling shaken. There is no simple happy ending here, which speaks to the damage and complexities of sexual abuse.

Strong writing combines with a harrowing story to create a book about what it means to really be a best friend. Appropriate for ages 10-13.

Reviewed from ARC provided by Farrar Straus Giroux.

 

Review: The Forget-Me-Not Summer by Leila Howland

| Tasha

The Forget Me Not Summer by Leila Howland

The Forget-Me-Not Summer by Leila Howland (InfoSoup)

Marigold, Zinnie and Lily are sisters. They live busy lives in California where Marigold is hoping to have a real kiss for the first time, not one done on set. Zinnie is trying to get her curly wild hair under control and hopes to be able to spend time with Marigold and her friends. Lily is five and wants nothing more than to stay home with her nanny and eat great food. But then their parents get jobs out of town and the sisters are sent to spend the summer with an aunt they have never met across the country in Cape Cod. The three girls suddenly have to share a room with one another, live without a TV, not have cell phone service, and even the internet access is outdated and slow. Marigold is furious at losing a chance to be in a major film and having to spend time with her little sisters. Zinnie finds herself talking to trees for advice and watching for surprises created by special brownies. Lily longs for the food she had at home but also enjoys a good clambake too. Just as things seem to be starting to turn around, parts of California life appear and set everything askew again. These three sisters will have to figure out how to be themselves even when kisses, peer pressure and fame appear.

This book will inevitably be compared to the Penderwicks and rightly so. The sisters have that same spunk about them and the setting offers that timelessness that works so well. Though in this book, the girls chafe against the loss of TV and Internet, struggling to get along with one another. These sisters have fights, that are so well done that you understand both sides of the problem and can take the side of either one. The two older girls in particular both are human and far from perfect. Lily may look angelic but she too can throw tantrums and have horrible days, especially if baths are not negotiated properly.

It is that human quality that makes this book work so very well. The sisters are realistically portrayed and their relationships develop and change right in front of the reader in a way that makes sense. The unknown aunt turns out to be a very special person, kind and caring and someone who is a leader in the Cape Cod community. It’s a treat to see such a great female adult portrayed in a children’s book. One who is strong, enjoys children and gives them plenty of space to learn and grow without being overly odd or incompetent in any way.

A great summer read for fans of The Penderwicks, I’m hoping for another book featuring these girls. Appropriate for ages 8-12.

Reviewed from copy received from HarperCollins.

Review: Summer of the Gypsy Moths by Sara Pennypacker

| Tasha

summer of the gypsy moths

Summer of the Gypsy Moths by Sara Pennypacker

Stella lives with her great-aunt Louise on Cape Cod, where the house is always tidy, and even though Louise is not very demonstrative, Stella feels right at home.  Angel, a foster child, lives with them too, but Stella and Angel don’t get along at all.  Then one day, the girls return home to find Louise dead in her chair.  The two girls know that if anyone finds out, they will be put back into the child welfare system.  So they work together to create a plan that will let them stay in the tidy little house near the sea.  It would take a lot of work, because they would have to cover for Louise at her job of caring for four cottages on the property, and they would have to take care of the dead body too!  It’s a challenge for two girls who never got along in the first place and are headed in different directions when the summer is done.  This hope-filled book starts with a death and strangers and ends with hope and family. 

Pennypacker writes the sort of book that Stella would like to read.  It’s filled with all of the between-times, the moments of cleaning up afterwards, the small details, the real parts of life.  And it is through those moments that we get to know both girls, and Louise too.  The two girls are very different, and yet not so different after all, as readers get to know them.  They are both suffering from disappointments and loss, from being left behind, from not having families.  Stella holds onto her Hints from Heloise, determined to have a life of order and neatness that makes sense.  Angel listens to the music her mother played, hiding behind her earbuds and blocking everything out. 

One might think this would be a macabre book, and it does have those moments.  But it is much more a book about people and life, not death.  It is a book that celebrates summer, the days that stretch and lengthen, days shortened by working hard at times.  It is a story about secrets, opening up and revealing things.  It is a story about truth and lies, enemies and friendship.  Throughout the entire book, the story works naturally.  Things happen in their own good time, friendships blossom in a believable way.

This book does have a very neat ending with all of the storylines nicely fitting together.  I can only believe that Stella would approve of that being the way her story ended.  Appropriate for ages 9-12.

Reviewed from library copy.