 | Lumbering giants of Windy Pines (with TX Bluebonnet Logo) Author: Netz, Mo | |
| Price: $23.28 | ||
Summary:
Ever since her dad died, 11-year-old Jerry Blum and her mom have bounced around dead-end towns, staying in a series of rundown motels where her mother picks up housekeeping work and Jerry can get around in her wheelchair. But the Slumbering Giant motel is different. Lights blink on and off in the surrounding trees, a mysterious radio station plays only at midnight, and people disappear into the woods, never to be seen again.
| Accelerated Reader Information: Interest Level: MG Reading Level: 4.80 Points: 6.0 Quiz: 550434 |
Reviews:
Kirkus Reviews (01/15/24)
School Library Journal (00/07/24)
Booklist (03/01/24)
The Hornbook (00/05/24)
Full Text Reviews:
Booklist - 03/01/2024 Debut author Netz presents charismatic characters in a captivating, magical setting. Jerusha Eliana Blum, a white girl known as Jerry, has a genetic degenerative disease, which means she needs to use a wheelchair. After her father’s death and losing their home, she and her mother arrive in Windy Pines, Georgia, where her mother has gotten a job helping to maintain a motel. An imaginary friend—a Yiddish-speaking dragon with pigeon wings named Paul—helps homeschooled Jerry cope with loneliness. Soon, the perceptive 11-year-old suspects her mother is working on something secret in the forest, and the town's history of missing people begins to worry Jerry. When she meets Chapel Bell, a Black sixth-grader living in the motel due to a house fire, they bond over being treated differently based on others' preconceived notions and become friends. When Jerry's mom disappears, Jerry and Chapel enter the forest to find her. With a satisfying emotional arc, Jerry's story sensitively tackles such topics as ableism and bullying, and her sharp intellect, paired with Paul's wit, adds humor and levity. - Copyright 2024 Booklist.
