  | Full Text Reviews: School Library Journal - 05/01/2014 Gr 6–8—Holczer writes about the common theme of loss, but creates quite an uncommon character who must deal with the sudden death of her mother, and moving in with a grandmother she has never met. Grace's mother leads them on a nomadic life of moving from one place to another, always searching for just the right home, until her untimely death. Grace must then find a way to get to know and forgive her grandmother who has always been a stranger in her life. She soon discovers that her mother has left her one more treasure hunt. The clues take her deep inside her family's past and unlock memories that finally give her the stability and roots she has always been craving. Holczer expertly crafts the characters and dialogue to create a story readers will identify with, and thoroughly enjoy. The undercurrent theme of loss is balanced well with humor and an authentic protagonist. More than simply a book about grief and the death of a parent, Grace's story is about the search for identity. An essential purchase for middle-grade collections.—April Sanders, Spring Hill College, Mobile, AL - Copyright 2014 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission. Bulletin for the Center... - 07/01/2014 After the accidental drowning of her mother, twelve-year-old Grace has to move in with her only remaining relative, the grandmother who threw Grace’s mother out when she was pregnant with Grace. Grace stubbornly refuses to give her grandmother a chance and decides to be as difficult as possible, hoping to escape her mother’s childhood small town and be sent to live with her best friend. She begins to encounter meaningful signs that she reads as her mother’s messages to her from beyond the grave, and as she tries to untangle their symbolism, she finds herself making friends, learning about her parents’ past, and getting to know her grandmother. The story is overdetermined, with just too much tragedy, too many meaningful motifs, and too many colorful characters, but it’s also written with soft loveliness and some complementary pithy energy (when classmate Archer says something dumb to cover his liking Grace, the kids fall silent, “giving a moment of silence to the death of Archer’s dignity”). Grace’s gradual understanding of the complexity of her mother’s history and her letting go of it as a story of heroes and villains is tactfully and effectively conveyed, and though we’ve seen this story before, it’s particularly accessible to younger readers here. The overall effect is rather of Patron’s Higher Power of Lucky (BCCB 1/07) shot with an Instagram filter, so Lucky fans and atmosphere aficionados may both take to Grace’s poignant journey. DS - Copyright 2014 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois. Loading...
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