Homegrown House - Janet S. Wong

Illustrated by E. B. Lewis
Margaret K. McElderry Books, 2009
$16.99
for Kids
Rating: 3
Endpapers: Alternating squares that look like old-fashioned wallpaper, perhaps.

E. B. Lewis' watercolors are sumptious, as always. He does amazing things with shadows! He captures people perfectly - there's even one page that has its perspective from high up - not quite birds-eye view, but almost (the girls and her grandmother are looking down at the floor).

This is a story of the relationship between a girl and her grandmother. It's also the story of a girl wanting to stay in one house for more than a short amount of time, as her grandmother has. Some of the story is lovely - it's written in freeform verse and flows in a gentle way. The reason I can't give it a higher rating is because I think, although the essence of the story comes through clearly, there are some places that I can't tell whether it's talking about her grandmother's house, her new house, or her hopeful, future new home. It's probably me and the frame of mind I'm in right now, but I've gone back twice and I think it's now clear - it would probably be more clear for a kid withouth the extra-aged brain cells.