Strays by Gia Gordon

"How could someone dump this sweet little dog onto the street? How could someone chuck him out the window like he was a bag of week-old McDonalds? How could anyone with half a soul look into those melting eyes and not want to fold him into a love-blanket, and take him home?"

Campbell is in Grade 6. She finds it hard to concentrate at school and she has a complex relationship with her almost silent father. He works for the city animal rescue centre, except this place is not really about rescue because stray dogs and cats are only kept there for three days and then it is her father's job to decide to euthanatize them. This partly explains why Campbell's father is so distant but other dreadful things have happened and these are gradually revealed through the story - her dad was a fireman and something went badly wrong when Campbell was having her fifth birthday party but even worse Campbell's mum left the family and then (spoiler alert) she was killed in a car accident.

Luckily Campbell does have a fabulous friend at school - a girl named Luz. Luz lives with her mum, dad and older twin sisters in a busy household but Luz does not have a perfect life either. Her dad has been serving in the army and over the last ten years has rarely been home with the family. As this book opens though he has returned from his deployment and his service has ended but he is suffering from dreadful PTSD and adjusting back into his own family is difficult.

Into this mix comes a small brown dog. Campbell witnesses someone discarding him:

"I'm not expecting a beefy man-hand to reach out the window holding a tiny, squirming dog. I'm not expecting that dog to drop out of the beefy-man hand onto the sidewalk. I'm not expecting the van to speed away. I'm not expecting that teensy flash of beige-brown to take off, chasing the van."

So we have some puzzle pieces for this story which Gia Gordon neatly puts together into a very satisfying conclusion but not a conclusion you will expect at all. 

I do also need to mention the fantastic school Teacher-Librarian in this story - Miss Alba. She is kind, she listens to Campbell and she gives very practical support and access to the most perfect resources as Campbell struggles firstly to keep this little pup she names Tater Tot safe and away from her father who would be sure to take him to the dog shelter; and secondly when Campbell needs help to work out how to transport the little dog to the other side of the country - I hope that makes you even more curious about this book.  IF I was going to do further study in the field of children's literature I think there is a whole topic here about minor characters who are helpful Teacher-Librarians like Miss Alba.

"Librarians are kinda awesome that way. Because she always makes you feel like she has all the time in the world to talk to you or help you out with something even when it's her lunch hour."

Campbell is grieving in this book and her friendship with Luz is tested - the ups and downs of their relationship felt very real. I also loved the way Campbell showed really good emotional intelligence about her father and also when she saw things were hard for Luz and her parents.

Here are some poignant text quotes:

"Nothing I've ever loved wants to stay with me."

"For the first times in a few days, I feel like I can take a deep breath and blow it all the way out. For the first time since my dad left firefighting, since her couldn't work for two years, and then became head of animal control, I feel like there may be answers to the problems his job only makes worse."

"I smooth my hand over his cute little head, fun my fingers down his overside ears. Even though he's dirty and full of dried leaves and twigs, his fur is probably the softest thing I've ever touched in my whole life."

"even though I had food for him, he mostly just wanted some love."

There is a sweet little expression in this story used three times - it was not one I had heard or read before - I sit crisscross applesauce. 

Bookseller blurb: Campbell Cole has a big heart for all living things, especially strays. It might be because her father, the director of the local animal control, is as aloof as they come, so Campbell knows what it’s like to feel alone. When she spots an adorable dog being dumped on the street, the last thing Campbell can do is tell her dad. He might take the pup straight to the shelter, where new rescues have just three days to be adopted. The only person she can trust with the truth is her best friend, Luz. The more time Campbell spends trying to catch the dog, the more he starts to trust her, which is both great and terrible because Campbell knows she can’t keep him. But perhaps she doesn’t have to. With the help of Luz’s father, an army vet grappling with PTSD, she just may find a solution that benefits not only the dog, but everyone else, too.

Gia Gordon’s Strays is a beautifully written, heartfelt novel about friendship, family, and finding the courage to stand up for what’s right, that will resonate with anyone who has ever struggled to find a place to call home. Gia Gordon

An insightful, well-characterized exploration of love and trust. Kirkus

Readers will be drawn into this accessible, emotional story. The Horn Book

I saw this book Strays in a bookshop on Saturday a few weeks ago. It caught my eye because I had seen it mentioned somewhere, plus I do like the cover, and I am a sucker for books about dogs. Bonus - this is a very new book so you will be able to find it in your local independent bookstore. I recommend Strays for readers aged 10+. 

Companion book:

A Handful of Stars

Earlier today I read a comment on social media that if you see a dog on the cover of a book it is sure to be a sad story and the dog will die! NO. Thank goodness that is never the case in the books I read for children aged 9+.  Here are a few I love:

One Dog and his Boy

Answers to Dog

Talking to Alaska

Something like Home

Here is another book by Gia Gordon:

Six Weeks by Matt Goodfellow illustrated by Joe Todd Stanton

"I love you mum.

Please help me.

I don't know what to do without you."

There is such a level of tension in this verse novel that you just need to read on and on. Alfie lives with dad, his dad's new wife and their young baby Alice. Alfie's mum has died and early on we learn this happened when the baby was born about one year ago and we also read that Alfie absolutely never wants to see the man who lived with his mum ever again. As a reader you will have no idea what has happened between this man and Alfie but over the six weeks of the story Matt Goodfellow gradually lets us step into Alfie's life, and we can hear Alfie's questions which naturally are about life and death and we see first-hand complex human relationships along with the importance of grieving.

I have been a bit of a reading slump lately - I had a couple of new books to read and review but neither of them really grabbed me. I thought about the "Rights of the Reader" by Daniel Pennac. His number two rule is: The Right Not to Finish a Book – It is acceptable to stop reading a book at any point and his number ten rule is: The Right to Enjoy Reading – Above all, reading should be pleasurable and free from pressure. Facing a long day with a few serious life stresses I decided to put away the two books that I was struggling with and pick up Six Weeks. I knew this book would be good, but I didn't know just how good - I was totally absorbed by this story, and I read 150 pages in one gulp before lifting my head and 're-entering' the real world. Six Weeks is a winner! Please put this book into the hands of the readers in your life aged 10+. The powerful storytelling in this book 'blew me away'.

Matt is an exceptional storyteller, and his use of verse is incredibly effective at conveying Alfie’s internal world.  Books for Topics

Six Weeks is a book you have to just sit with after you've finished it so you can fully absorb everything. It's a book I hugged at the end (between the tears). It's a book full of heart-break, healing and hope.  K and O Bonkers about Books

When I’m asked about my favourite books, I always say lots of children’s books and that more adults should read them! Six Weeks is the exemplification for why I say that: it is a subject matter which hits young and old and it particularly resonates with the grief journey I’m on. Your heart will break for Alfie at the start and slowly, that love and hope will begin to be rebuilt. Matt is an exceptional storyteller and his use of verse is so effective to convey such important messages. Check 'em out books

If you read my blog you may know I am not a fan of book endorsements, but I wholeheartedly agree with the comments by these authors:

• 'Utterly magnificent' Liz Hyder
• 'Matt Goodfellow's best novel to date' Sarah Crossan
• 'Brilliant, brilliant, brilliant' Phil Earle
• 'Goodfellow has pulled off something astounding' Anthony McGowan
• All at once beautiful, tender, funny and sharp ... a triumph' Katya Balen

I adored these two previous verse novels by Matt Goodfellow:

The Final Year

Turtle Tears by Megan Albany illustrated by Paul Seden

"The turtles there cry like we do ... Except when they cry butterflies flutter around 
and drink their tears."
"Turtles live a long time ... because they share their tears."

Grief is a complex emotion and we often struggle to know how to respond. In this book Nan is deeply grieving the loss Pop. She cries a lot and her little granddaughter Ruby is not sure how to help. Then Nan talks about a holiday she went on years ago where she heard that when turtles cry, butterflies drink their tears - such a lovely image to ponder.

I love the way this book openly explores grief and tears and the way Nan is still allowed to cry - the grief has not gone away it has just eased a little. 

Gently ignoring stereotypes, the story ends on a beautifully hopeful note. It also reminds the reader that, even if you or someone you love is very sad, that doesn't mean you can't also have moments of joy and chase butterflies. Reading Melbourne

Blurb from Magabala Books: This heart-warming picture book gently reassures children that it is both natural and healthy for adults and children to cry when they are sad. Narrated from the voice of a child, Ruby, it centres on her no-nonsense Nan who is grieving for her late husband. She tells the child about the turtles she and Pop saw, while on holiday in South America. They cry tears as humans do, and butterflies drink their tears (factual). 

Thanks to Magabala for sending a review copy of Turtle Tears.

I found this information about butterflies and turtles:  Butterflies in the Amazon engage in a behavior known as lachryphagy, where they sip tears from turtles to obtain vital sodium and minerals necessary for their survival. This unique interaction sees butterflies flocking to freshwater turtles, taking turns to land on their heads and drink their tears. The sodium in turtle tears is crucial ... As butterflies drink the tears, they quickly absorb the salt and dispose of the leftover liquid through their rear end. This process allows butterflies to acquire a crucial nutrient that is otherwise difficult to find in their usual diet of plants and other sources. The butterflies’ need for sodium drives them to seek out the tears of turtles, forming a symbiotic relationship where both the turtles and butterflies benefit. While the turtles produce plenty of tears, the butterflies only consume a small quantity, making this interaction sustainable for both parties. Besides butterflies, other insects such as bees and moths also partake in tear-drinking behavior. This fascinating natural occurrence highlights the interconnectedness of different species in their pursuit of survival ...  Butterflies rely on the turtles to provide enough sodium through their tears, ensuring their continued survival, while turtles remain largely unaffected by the butterflies’ feeding habits.  

Read more here. Here is a video of lachryphagy in action (2 minute video suitable for older primary students or background information for teachers).

This phenomena of butterflies drinking tears is probably mentioned in some non fiction books about butterflies - I need to dig deeper in a library to check.

Paul Seden is an author and illustrator of picture books for young readers and he is descended from the Wuthathi and Muralag people of North Queensland. Kick with My Left Foot was a Notable Book in the 2015 CBCA Book of the Year Awards and short-listed for the Speech Pathology Book of the Year Awards – Indigenous Children category. Crabbing with Dad was short-listed in the 2019 KOALA Children’s Choices Award and also for the ABIA Children’s Book of the Year in 2017. Paul loves illustrated text and lives in the Top End of the Northern Territory.

The Shop Train

Megan Albany is a proud Kalkadoon woman. Megan lives in the Northern Rivers of NSW. Her debut black comedy novel, The Very Last List of Vivan Walker (Hachette 2022), was one of four works shortlisted for The Banjo Prize.

Following Grandfather by Rosemary Wells illustrated by Christopher Denise

"It was Grandfather who taught me the names of all the shells: luck shells, boat shells, comb shells, winkles, and the rare queen's teacup, which washes up only once in a blue moon."

Jenny and her grandfather like to visit their local beach - Revere Beach in Boston - and yes this is a real place.

See more pages inside Following Grandfather here

Her grandfather came to the US from Italy and as a young man worked in an Italian restaurant. Now he has retired and Jenny's parents run the restaurant. Grandfather has the time to look after and share his wisdom with Jenny but sadly he is coming to the end of his life.

Here is a special extract from this story:

"My parents worked late into the night, so it was Grandfather who spooned warm milk over my evening pudding. It was his hand that showed me how to button my buttons and how to draw J for Jenny. Into Grandfather's vest pocket went my first tooth, and to the ticking of his pocket watch I slept."

And my favourite scene is when Grandfather takes Jenny to the Jordan Marsh and Fliene department store. 

"There the latest fashions from Paris and Milan are copied exactly from the downstairs models. They are painstakingly sewn from sippets of silk and organza stolen from the main racks at night. ... I tried on every outfit and modeled them for Grandfather. He sat patiently, leaning on his mother-of-pearl tipped walking stick and examining the tailoring carefully, as if we could have afforded them."

Two names jumped out at me from the cover of Following Grandfather - Rosemary Wells (author of all those wonderful books about Max and Ruby) and Christopher Denise (illustrator of Knight Owl).

Bookseller blurb (this book is from 2012 and so is now out of print): 

Invisible to humans exists a parallel world of mice, where young Jenny misses her cherished grandfather so much that she begins to see him everywhere. Jenny is as close to her grandfather as a small mouse can be. Grandfather shows Jenny how to button her buttons and how to write her name. He passes along to her the secrets of making the best lasagna in all of Boston. And during long, shared days at Revere Beach, Grandfather teaches Jenny the names of the seashells they find washed up on shore. When Grandfather is all of a suddenly gone one day, the hole he leaves behind is too great for Jenny to fathom. Isn’t that him turning a corner, sitting on a bench, heading for the pier, walking along their beloved beach? Jenny runs after the familiar silver whiskers, hoping. ... Rosemary Wells peels back the layers of grief to reveal, at its core, something as exquisite and achingly beautiful as the rare and storied queen’s teacup seashell. Christopher Denise illustrates mid-century Boston with affection, and a mouse and her grandfather with gentle humor and unabashed sympathy.

This time spent together - old and young - made me think of this wonderful picture book:

I am an adult and I need to say that there is so much in this book that appeals to me, but I am not entirely sure if this is a book for very young readers. Not because of the content, even though the grandfather does die, but more because of the references to American culture and history and also the exploration of the concept of class and privilege. This quote explains this idea:

"I learned all the mice in the city and what they did to make a living. Grandfather tipped his hat to Senator Lodge himself and to the Cabot nursemaids, the fried-seed vendor, and the poorest rat who swept the sewers. Grandfather said hello to the world. I learned to say hello, too, in that way that made the world smile back."

Rosemary Wells expresses in a beautiful way sandcastles that are swept away by a rising tide - she calls them melting sandcastles and she also uses the delightful words 'crenellated tower' to describe the inside of one sandcastle. And you will want to think about the meaning of the title. And I do love the idea of collecting special shells. 

Following Grandfather has 58 illustrated pages so it is a very quick book to read but if you read this book aloud in your family you may find yourself explaining these things:

• Meaning of the word 'revere': to be in awe of and respect deeply; venerate
• Places - Revere Beach in Boston; Holy Cross Cathedral on Washington Street; Martha's Vineyard.
• Italian foods - biscotti, gelato, mozzarella, cappolatte anisetto, tortellini, lasagna puttanesca
• Riding in a streetcar (we might call this a tram).
• Ship names 'Leonardo da Vinci'; Titanic; Carpathia and you will want to explore the sinking of the Titanic in more detail.
• Grandfather wears spats and has mother of pearl buttons

My friend from Kinderbookswitheverything explains her reservations about the audience for Following Grandfather in her blog post. 

Beautifully written text and endearing gray-scale illustrations transport readers and add to the poignancy of the tale. The message that all people are worthy of respect is artfully delivered and the manner in which Jenny mourns her grandfather's death will evoke empathy from young readers who have suffered a similar loss. School Library Journal

Losing someone you love is always painful, but for the young such a loss can be devastating and incomprehensible. In this beautifully written and illustrated story, we come to appreciate how special Jenny’s grandfather is, and we see how the little mouse struggles to come to terms with her grief. Through the Looking Glass

Writing with tenderness and humor, Wells creates an authentic, parallel, mouse-sized world within Boston while introducing readers to human-sized devotion and grief in the fully developed relationship between Jenny and Grandfather. Kirkus

I do enjoy books about mice that incorporate the human world such as these:

A Nest for Celeste

Bless this Mouse

Secrets at Sea

Violet and Jobie in the Wild

Always Clementine

Mousenet

Umbrella Mouse

As Brave as You by Jason Reynolds

(nearly five stars)

“Yeah, but you never, like, I’on’t know, just walk around your yard? Not all the way to the edge, but just a little bit? ’Cause if I had a big yard like this back home, I would be in it all the time. Even if I was blind,” Genie said. Grandpop cocked his head. “Is that so?” 

Genie wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. “Yep.” 

“Well, I guess I gotta figure out how to get as brave as you, Little Wood.”

The opening lines of As Brave as You might make you think this will 'just' be a funny book (perhaps filled with toilet humour) but if you think that you will discover you are so 'wrong'.

#460: Poop. Poop is stupid. Stupid poop. Stupid. Poopid. Poopidity. Is poopidity a word?

The boys are cleaning up dog poo. #460 is a way that Genie keeps track of his questions - especially here living with his grandparents who have no internet and so he has no way to use his friend 'Google'. The boys have come from Brooklyn to North Hill, Virginia. Their parents are supposed to be on a holiday. They are supposed to be 'working things out' and hopefully finding a way to stay together so meanwhile Genie and Ernie are trying to adjust to living in a totally new place with new rules. 

Back to Genie's questions. He writes them in a special book:

Genie flipped through pages of his notebook—where he kept his best questions. Some had already been answered, and some were still mysteries. He landed on one that he had totally forgotten about—#389: Do honey badgers eat honey?

Genie was the kind of kid who kept a small jacked-up notebook and pen in his pocket just so that he could jot down interesting things whenever they came. The point was to keep a list—a numbered list—of all the things he needed to Google, because to Genie, the more questions you had, the more answers you could find. And the more answers you found, the more you knew. And the more you knew, the less you made mistakes. Genie wasn’t about mistakes.

Genie is wise beyond his years, and he has a wonderful level of emotional intelligence.  After their long car trip to the country this is what he says about his mum:

The skin on her face looked heavy, and Genie wondered if she had slept at all during the ride. Actually, the skin on her face had been looking heavy for a few months.

There is another layer to this visit - Genie's father and his grandfather have not spoken to each other for years - so something bad must have happened in the past. AND also, Grandpop is totally blind and yet he manages to navigate inside the house. Inside yes, but he needs Genie to help him learn how to walk outside. 

Genie and Grandpop bond over Grandpop's secret inside greenhouse garden and over names - Genie is a girl's name given to a boy and Grandpop's name is Brooke. Ernie and Genie learn about selling peas at the market. It should be an uneventful Summer but of course it is not especially after the boys meet Tess who lives on the next farm. And good news Tess has Wi-Fi so Genie can get onto his backlog of questions. 

Oh and my heart broke when Genie accidentally broke the little red toy truck that had belonged to his Uncle Wood (spoiler alert - his uncle was a soldier who died in action twenty years ago in operation Desert Storm).

#442: Why am I so stupid? Why did he have to leave the truck on the floor? Why? His first day at Grandma and Grandpop’s house, and he had already messed up. The first day. He just couldn’t believe it. He hated making mistakes. All he could think about was how he had to make it right. He had to fix it. But… how?

I do have to give a content warning - this book contains guns, and a shooting.

He turned to open the refrigerator door, and that’s when Genie noticed something was sticking up from the back of his pants like a short tail. Oh… my… G—it was a pistol—the handle of a pistol! Genie had never actually seen a gun in real life, just on the cop shows Ma was always watching, or in movies—action flicks, sci-fi flicks, and even the scary flicks Genie and Ernie weren’t supposed to be watching. ... Questions to remember: What’s a blind man doing with a gun?  Why would Grandpop have a gun, period?

Readers aged 11+ with reading stamina will enjoy this book and the story twists and turns will keep them turning the pages desperate to see if young Genie can atone for his mistakes - breaking that precious truck and accidentally killing one of Grandpop's special birds not to mention the messy issue of Ernie's tooth, the gun shot and his worry about his mum and dad. 

Publisher blurb: Genie’s summer is full of surprises. The first is that he and his big brother, Ernie, are leaving Brooklyn for the very first time to spend the summer with their grandparents all the way in Virginia—in the COUNTRY! The second surprise comes when Genie figures out that their grandfather is blind. Thunderstruck, Genie peppers Grandpop with questions about how he hides it so well (besides wearing way cool Ray-Bans). How does he match his clothes? Know where to walk? Cook with a gas stove? Pour a glass of sweet tea without spilling it? Genie thinks Grandpop must be the bravest guy he’s ever known, but he starts to notice that his grandfather never leaves the house—as in NEVER. And when he finds the secret room that Grandpop is always disappearing into—a room so full of songbirds and plants that it’s almost as if it’s been pulled inside-out—he begins to wonder if his grandfather is really so brave after all. Then Ernie lets him down in the bravery department. It’s his fourteenth birthday, and, Grandpop says to become a man, you have to learn how to shoot a gun. Genie thinks that is AWESOME until he realizes Ernie has no interest in learning how to shoot. None. Nada. Dumbfounded by Ernie’s reluctance, Genie is left to wonder—is bravery and becoming a man only about proving something, or is it just as important to own up to what you won’t do?

This is one of those books where you feel as though you are sitting right beside the family. I especially loved Grandma's cooking and her no-nonsense approach to the boys. 

Reynolds gives his readers uncommonly well-developed, complex characters, especially the completely believable Genie and Grandpop, whose stubborn self-sufficiency belies his vulnerability and whose flawed love both Genie and readers will cherish. This pitch-perfect contemporary novel gently explores the past’s repercussions on the present. Kirkus Star review

Reynolds captures the bond that Grandpop and Genie form in a tender, believable, and entertaining way, delivered through smart and funny prose and sparkling dialogue. School Library Journal

Awards:

• ALA Notable Children's Books
• Bank Street Best Books of the Year
• William Allen White Children's Book Award Reading List (KS)
• ALA Coretta Scott King Author Honor Book
• Chicago Public Library's Best of the Best
• Rebecca Caudill Young Reader's Book Award (IL)
• ALA Schneider Family Book Award
• ALA Notable Children's Recording
• Wisconsin State Reading Association's Reading List
• Center for the Study of Multicultural Children's Literature Best Multicultural Books List
• New York Public Library Best Books for Kids
• Kirkus Prize Winner
• USBBY Outstanding Books for Young People with Disabilities Award List

Genie's questions sometimes act as a light relief from some of the heavy themes in this book - here are a few that gave me a smile:

#458: Grits? What exactly are they? And I get that they’re called grits because they’re gritty, but who thought that name was a good idea? That’s like naming peas green slime balls.

#456: How come glaucoma isn’t called eyecoma? Technically, Grandpop’s eyes are ’sleep, right? Eye… coma. Makes more sense.

#447: What does it mean to shoot the breeze? I know one thing, ain’t no breeze nowhere around here for Grandpop to shoot. 

#448: What does a month of Sundays mean? Has there ever actually been a month of Sundays? Maybe the first month of Sundays was the January after Jesus was born. 

#449: Is the sun hotter in the south? If so, then a month of sundaes makes more sense.

#486: How come teeth ain’t called mouthnails? Or maybe fingernails should be called fingerteeth. 

#487: Do old birds ever lose their beaks? Do they ever crack them pecking hard things? If they do, does that change the way they sing? 

#488: Why do they sing anyway? And is the song of a bird different if the bird is in a tree, in the sky, or in a cage?

Ruby Lost and Found by Christina Li

When we did come across May’s, we’d do the exact same thing. We’d stop and exchange a look. Ye-Ye would raise an eyebrow. “Egg tarts or coconut bread?” 
And every time, I said, “Both?”

“I’m going to help save the bakery.” “What?” “The bakery,” I said, my voice steadying. “It can’t go. I’m going to figure out a way to help May Wong save it.” There. I said it. Now there was no going back.

It might be good to grab a map of San Francisco or look for some photographs of the city - especially if, like me, you don't live in the US or you are unfamiliar with this city.

I did read this book quite quickly. There were many plot points that felt familiar or similar to other books so while I did enjoy some parts of this story it didn't completely grab me. I have put some similar books at the end of this post.

Plot points:

• A young girl (Ruby Chu) is sent to spend the summer with her grandmother - Nai-Nai. This is partly a punishment because Ruby has been caught leaving her school at lunch time
• Ruby is carrying the burdens of grief and guilt. She is sure it is her fault that her grandfather Ye-Ye died about a year ago.
• Ruby was once best friends with her sister Viv but now that her sister is older and about to head away to college their connection seems to be gone. 
• Adding to this Ruby's best friend Mia has moved across the country and Naomi, her other friend, seems to have moved on to a different group. Ruby feels isolated and alone.
• Mum and Dad are absent from Monday to Friday because they are frantically busy with their work commitments and Ruby cannot talk to them over dinner at the weekend because they are always rushing to answer important phone calls.
• Ruby spends her weekdays with Nai-Nai and each day they go to the Seniors Centre. Ruby does make a friend but at first, she is sure she does not like Liam at all. Over time she finds out he has had some deep sadness in his life and with teamwork they bond over their shared goal of saving the bakery.

Maybe it was because after Liam and I had talked, things had changed. We now worked on stuff together and told each other all kinds of things about our families. I would never ignore him in a hallway again or tease him in my mind.

• Ruby knows she is 'grounded' but she breaks this rule by going a sleepover with Naomi. If she talks to her parents about her grandmother, they will discover this and the sleepover is a disaster.

I needed to tell Dad about Nai-Nai getting lost. And Mom. When would I mention it? I would bring it up at dinner, maybe, tonight when Dad picked me up and drove me home. But then I tried to imagine how the conversation would go. They would ask me what had happened. I would have to tell them about Naomi’s sleepover. They would get mad, I realized. My heart sank. Of course they would. They’d get angry at me and at Nai-Nai for letting me go. I didn’t know what would happen next. Would they yell at Nai-Nai? It wasn’t her fault. But would they stop letting me stay at Nai-Nai’s place? Would that leave Nai-Nai by herself again? I couldn’t leave her alone. If she was left alone maybe she’d forget more things and no one would be around to help her remember. Maybe I wouldn’t tell them, for now. I would tell them eventually. For now, I’d just keep watching Nai-Nai.

• Her grandmother is showing early signs of memory loss and later Ruby learns the words dementia and Alzheimer's.
• Mum and Dad decide Nai-Nai needs to go to an aged care facility and when Nai-Nai runs away but Ruby is able to 'rescue' her and things in her family are finally out in the open and able to be resolved.
• So by now you probably agree with me that the title is perfect - Ruby is lost and then she is found or she discovers things about herself and begins to accept the changes in her life.

Listen to an audio sample here.

Publisher blurb: Thanks to her Ye-Ye’s epic scavenger hunts, thirteen-year-old Ruby Chu knows San Francisco like the back of her hand. But after his death, she feels lost, and it seems like everyone—from her best friends to her older sister—is abandoning her. After Ruby gets in major trouble at school, her parents decide she has to spend the summer at a local senior center with her grandmother, Nai-Nai, and Nai-Nai’s friends for company. When a new boy from Ruby’s grade, Liam Yeung, starts showing up too, Ruby’s humiliation is complete. But Nai-Nai, her friends, and Liam all surprise Ruby. She finds herself working with Liam, who might not be as annoying as he seems, to help save a historic Chinatown bakery that’s being priced out of the neighborhood. And alongside Nai-Nai, who is keeping a secret that threatens to change everything, Ruby retraces Ye-Ye’s scavenger hunt maps in an attempt to find a way out of her grief—and maybe even find herself. 

Big feelings are uncomfortable but to be expected in this story of finding joy and community amid change and loss. Kirkus Star review

(While) this is not an exciting, page-turner; it's a self-contained family drama that's essentially about a grieving girl getting to know her grandmother better. It's definitely worth a read though -- Ruby's family and struggles feel real, the exploration of grief and intergenerational family relationships is touching, and the San Francisco setting sparkles. Common Sense Media

Read this detailed review from Ms Yingling and one from Horn Book Magazine.

I did enjoy the descriptions of Chinatown and also the relationships between the older ladies at the senior centre where Ruby goes each day with her grandmother. This book also explores the complexities of junior high friendships and peer group relationships. Here are some text quotes to give you a flavour of this story by Christina Li.

I took a bite and savored the sweet, creamy egg custard, pressing down the inkling of worry in my chest. The crust was soft and flaky and melted on my tongue. “Thank you,” I said, muffled, my mouth half-full. It was just like how I remembered it in May’s Bakery on a busy Saturday morning or on a quiet Sunday afternoon, leaning over the counter to peer at the egg tarts and sponge cakes through the glass. I took a sip of the tea and leaned back and felt warm and full.

They passed out bingo cards and chips. And right before it started, Auntie Lin leaned back to speak to May Wong. She kept her voice low, but I was just close enough to hear her say, in Mandarin, “Another kid to babysit? What are we, a day care?" ... Also: another kid? Some other grandchild was being brought here against their will? Five hours to go. The clock was literally slowing before my eyes.

Nai-Nai also didn’t do much after the days at the senior center. She used to always go on small trips and errands. Back when she was really into making clothes, she’d take me with her to the fabric store. We’d hang out for hours while she draped lengths of fabric over herself, so it looked like she had a rainbow cape. Or during her paint phase, she’d grab watercolors and have Ye-Ye and me paint with her. But now, like clockwork, we headed straight back to the apartment in the late afternoon. She wore gray sweater-vests and different varieties of handmade baggy pants. And her only hobby these days seemed to be watching TV.

Ye-Ye made me a scavenger hunt every August, the weekend before school started. There were colored-pencil marks over all of this map, a different color for every year. Dark green was last year. Gold was the year before, then red. The last time that Viv joined us for the scavenger hunts was recorded in a beautiful sky blue, looping near the ocean. Viv always liked to charge ahead with each clue, as if it was a race to finish as fast as possible. I liked to wander. And then the next year she stopped coming.

The other day, she left the package of tofu out on the counter after cooking noodles. When Nai-Nai came for breakfast, she stared at the tofu package and asked me why I’d taken it out for breakfast. Nai-Nai was always a bit scatterbrained. She often left mail and receipts out on the coffee table and left books she was reading open and facedown. But she never really misplaced things in the kitchen.

You might want to grab a copy of this book after reading Ruby lost and found:

And you want to eat a custard tart or some coconut bread and visit a Japanese stationery store to buy some of those fun animal erasers (chapter 7).

Companion books:

Tree Table Book

Talking to the Moon

Maizy Chen's last chance

Just like Jackie

Baby by Patricia MacLachlan

A searching, beautifully written story. Kirkus

Larkin lives with her artist mother, father and grandmother Byrd on an island (perhaps it is Nantucket or Martha's Vineyard). The island is overrun with visitors each summer so the residents really enjoy the quieter times when all the mainlanders have left.

We ate dinner as the sun set; candles on the table, the dinner a yearly celebration that tomorrow the island visitors would leave. The seasons on our island rose and fell in a rhythm like the rise and fall of the tides. Autumn was ours with quick colors, leaves flying until they were gone and we could see the shape of the island. The land rose and fell, too, from the north point where the lighthouse stood, curving down into valleys like hands holding pond water. Soon winter would come, the winds shaking the windows of the house, the sea black. Herring gulls would sit out of the wind on our porch, watching for spring that would come so fast and cold, we would hardly know it was there. Then summer, visitors would come off the ferry again, flooding us, the air heavy with their voices. And again, at summer’s end they would be gone like the tide, leaving behind small signs of themselves: a child’s pail with a broken handle, a tiny white sock by the water’s edge. Bits and pieces of them left like good-byes.

But have the summer visitors all left? At the end of chapter one Patricia MacLachlan hints that change is coming and it is coming tomorrow. The family and Larkin's special friend Lalo return from their tradition of farewelling the final ferry to find a baby on their doorstep.

“I cannot take care of her now, but I know she will be safe with you,” Papa read. “I have watched you. You will be a good family. I will lose her forever if you don’t do this, so please keep her. I will send money for her when I can. I will come back for her one day. I love her.”

Sophie's mother loves her baby but she has had to leave her behind. Papa warns Larkin the baby's mother will return.

“I like Sophie,” I said. “I don’t love her.” “Don’t,” said Papa. “Don’t love her.” He sighed. “I like her too,” he said after a moment. “Mama will love her soon,” I whispered. “If not already,” murmured Papa. “I’m scared,” I said after a while. “For Mama.” There was a silence.

There is a hint of sadness to come on the opening page of this book - it is a quote from a poem:

I am not resigned to the shutting away of loving hearts in the hard ground. So it is, and so it will be, for so it has been, time out of mind: Into the darkness they go, the wise and the lovely. Crowned With lilies and with laurel they go; but I am not resigned. —from “Dirge Without Music” Edna St. Vincent Millay

This family are carrying a deep sadness. Mama and Papa won't talk to Larkin about her baby brother who only lived for one day. He never had a name and Larkin never saw his little face.

A tiny stone sat there, surrounded by big headstones with angels and flowers and names engraved on them. There was no name on the tiny stone, just the word BABY and a date that showed that the one buried there had only lived for one day.

A great topic for a PhD could be the portrayal of librarians, school librarians and Teacher-Librarians in middle grade books. I adore Ms Minifred she works at Larkin's school. She is a minor but also important character. She loves words, poetry (spoiler alert there is a love story in this book too) and Rebel (who) had come to the island with his Harley-Davidson motorcycle when he was eighteen and had never left. That was fifteen years ago. We had seen pictures of him then, and he hadn’t changed. He was still thin, and his hair stood straight up. He had a mysterious tattoo on his arm that said “Wild Eunice.”

I often think about collecting the opening sentences of books - perhaps using them as a way to share books with readers or even as writing inspiration. Here is the opening sentence of Baby:

In the evenings my father danced.

Here is another beautiful sentence: Byrd lifted Sophie and whirled her around until Sophie laughed. A small island plane flew over our heads and away. And Byrd’s pearls broke, showering Sophie and falling over the meadow grasses like tears.

Publisher blurb: Larkin's family welcomes Sophie into their home, caring for her and teaching her games and new words. They come to love this baby as their own, all the while knowing that eventually Sophie's mother will return one day to take her from them.

The writing in this book is so far above nearly every book I have read over the last few months. I read a huge number of kids books and while many are okay and a few are good, none quite reach the heights of the exquisite writing in this book. It should not have taken me so long to read Baby which was published in 1995. My friend first mentioned it back in 2012 when she read my post about the most famous Patrician MacLachlan book Sarah, Plain and Tall. The label on this post will take you to lots of other Patrician MacLachlan titles. In this post from 2020 I talk about themes in her books such as music, poetry, questions, and family relationships. You might also notice many books include loss. 

Awards for Baby by Patricia MacLachlan:

• WINNER 1994 ALA Best Books for Young Adults
• WINNER 1996 South Carolina Children’s Book Award
• WINNER 1994 Texas Bluebonnet Award

There are only a handful of children's middle grade authors that I put into the category of superb - Patricia Maclachlan; Kate DiCamillo; Sara Pennypacker; Kevin Henkes; Patricia Reilly Giff; Katherine Paterson; Jason Reynolds and Katherine Applegate from the US. Katherine Rundell and Onjali Q Rauf from the UK. And Zana Fraillon, Judith Rossell, Deb Abela, Tristan Bancks and Shirley Marr from Australia.

Companion books:

The Naming of Tishkin Silk

The Summer we found the baby

Foxlight

Here is the full poem by Edna St Vincent Millay:

“I am not resigned to the shutting away of loving hearts in the hard ground. 

So it is and so it will be, for so it has been, time out of mind: 

Into the darkness they go, the wise and the lovely. Crowned 

With lilies and with laurel they go; but I am not resigned. 

Lovers and thinkers, into the earth with you. 

Be one with the dull, the indiscriminate dust. 

A fragment of what you felt, of what you knew, 

A formula, a phrase remains, - but the best is lost. 

The answers quick and keen, the honest look, the laughter, the love, - 

They are gone. They are gone to feed the roses. Elegant and curled 

Is the blossom. Fragrant is the blossom. I know. But I do not approve. 

More precious was the light in your eyes than all the roses in the world. 

Down, down, down into the darkness of the grave 

Gently they go, the beautiful, the tender, the kind; 

Quietly they go, the intelligent, the witty, the brave. I know. 

But I do not approve. And I am not resigned.”

Gone by Michel Streich

It happened

on a quiet morning

in autumn.

I woke early and saw that my bird had died during the night.

My own bird died just like this one and, like this child, we discovered him in the morning. My mother and I buried my little yellow budgie in our garden under some trees and beside a small rock shelf. I often think about that spot in the garden and wish we had put some sort of marker. It makes me a little sad to think I am the only person now who has a memory of this - I think I was in about Grade 4 or 5 and it was one of the first sad events in my life. 

The child in this book also carries his little friend out to the garden - think about the words in this sentence:

"I gently carried the body into the garden and dig a little hole and there I buried my bird."

Now think about the depth of this sentence:

"I thought about how life ticks away. One minute, one hour, one day at a time."

And what happens when we die? Michel Streich does not shy away from this either - instead each family member contributes their own wisdom. 

Image Source: Michel Streich

You can see the interesting page design used in this book. The text is placed at angles and two of the double spreads ask the reader to turn the book sideways. 

This is a gentle, soft-touch exploration of life cycles and life spans and the emotions that are evoked, made more sensitive by the creator choosing autumn to be the time when the bird passes so the illustrations are naturally those warm colours of red, orange and yellow. Read Plus Barbara Braxton

About Michel Streich: I was born in the Westphalia region of Germany, where I grew up and studied visual communication and graphic design, specializing in illustration. After graduating, I moved to London and started my career as a freelance illustrator. Three years later, in 2000, I relocated to Australia. After living in Sydney for a decade, I am now based in the Blue Mountains West of Sydney.

I am so pleased the CBCA judges did not shy away from selecting Gone which deals with the big topics of death and grief. Last year we had the wonderful book A Leaf called Greaf. It might be good to revisit that book when you share Gone with your library groups from Grade 2 up. 

There are some terrific titles this year in the CBCA Picture Book Notables list - I have picked out four that I am hopeful will make the short list of six - maybe Gone will be one of them. 

I was interested to read the CBCA Judges notes. They mention Old Pig; The Tenth Good think about Barney; When Violet Died (which is a book I have never seen published in 1973) and another book with the one-word title 'Heaven'. I wonder if this might be the book by Nicholas Allen?  My choices for companion books are:

The dead bird

Circles in the sky

The Bear and the Wildcat

When I saw Michel Streich had a 2026 CBCA Notable title I knew I wanted to read it. I adored this previous book:

Writing about Scary Bird in 2021 when it didn't make the CBCA Notables etc. I said: "I am certain this will WIN other awards. I really thought this would be the 2021 Picture Book of the Year winner. Message to the publisher (Scholastic) - please send this book far and wide. Perhaps it might win a future Kate Greenaway Medal as Bob Graham did in 2002 for Jethro Bird Fairy Child or a Caldecott prize as we saw with Hello Lighthouse in 2019. Nop (Caroline Magerl) is on the 2021 Greenaway Medal Long List. I adore Scary Bird so much I plan to add a copy to my own picture book collection."

Here are some other books by Michel Streich:

General Waste

The worst dog in the world