Saturday, January 24, 2015

Love, Ruby Lavender, Deborah Wiles. Ruby Lavender and her grandmother, Miss Eula, share a close, warm relationship and it is no secret in their small town that they stole three chickens, saving them from the slaughterhouse. A tree serves as their mailbox, sharing notes back and forth. When her grandmother decides to visit her newest grand baby in Hawaii, Ruby is devastated and misses her terribly, however, Ruby writes her regularly to keep her grandmother current with local events, secretly hoping that she doesn't fall in love with the baby, replacing her. Her grandmother is also missing her husband, who died a year earlier, along with Melba Jane's dad, Lavender's friend, in an accident. Their friendship shatters soon after, but with a little help from a new friend, Dove, they find their way back to each other. This is a lovely little story, sure to make any young reader smile.

Sunday, January 11, 2015

Bluish, Virginia Hamilton. Natalie, or Bluish, as she comes to be called, has cancer. She lives in a wheelchair, wears a hat to cover her hairless head and falls asleep easily. The cancer treatments cause her to have a "bluish" cast to her skin. Dreenie and Tuli, classmates, struggle with how to befriend her because they are both scared and curious of Natalie. But become friends they do. This is a heartwarming tale of what it means to be a friend to someone that most others ignore. This slim book reads quickly and is interspersed with journal entries written by Dreenie.