For: Middle GradesPub: 2008
150 pgs.
Rating: 3.5/5
Read: Aug. 31, 2008
Bronte has just moved from the desert of New Mexico to a house on the water in southern California, where her parents will run a restaurant on the pier. The summer drags before her and she knows no one. She loves to read. Sunbathing will be hampered by her red hair, fair complexion, and lack of a binkini-body. Then she has a brainstorm.
Bronte posts posters (hey, I see where the word POSTER comes from) around the pier and beach advertising a book club for girls who like to read. Eventually four girls join her and friendships form, are tested, and strengthen. They read Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O'Dell together, and some of their field trips are prompted by what happens in that book. One of the girls, Nan, lives on a sloop where they gather frequently. Willow, whose mother wants her to be a model or actress, is a slow reader, which she tries to keep secret. Lupe's family owns a bakery, and Jessie harbors a secret that makes her sad and sullen. We watch their friendship and the summer unfold together.
I've gotten so used to reading edgy YA novels that this seemed tame and bland at first. However, its message about being a good friend is strong and each girl's story is compelling. The setting; on the beach, surfing, on the ocean, and on the pier, are well-drawn. At one point they disobey parental instruction and almost drown, but working together they all pull through.
I have a fifth grader who loved Because of Winn-Dixie and is constantly looking for a book much like it. I'd say this fits the bill perfectly .
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