Written in light and lyrical free verse, Shari Green’s warm and wistful novel brings Bailey face to face with both hard and beautiful truths about growing up and growing into her own ability to shape the world.
Book Details:
RootBeer Candy and Other Miracles by Shari Green
PajamaPress
Middle Grade Fiction
Published: Sept 9, 2016
Softcover, 240 pages
Content: G
Book Description:
Eleven-year-old Bailey believes in miracles. She has to; it will take a miracle to keep her warring parents together. This summer they are at a Marriage Counselling camp, leaving Bailey and her little brother Kevin with their estranged grandmother in the island town of Felicity Bay. There, an eccentric deposed minister makes a prophecy that a stranger from the sea will change everything. When Bailey discovers a mermaid-shaped piece of driftwood, she begins to believe that the mermaid is this stranger from the sea. Then, when a dolphin becomes stranded on the beach, Bailey forgets her own troubles and rouses the reluctant locals into action.
Written in light and lyrical free verse, Shari Green’s warm and wistful novel brings Bailey face to face with both hard and beautiful truths about growing up and growing into her own ability to shape the world.
My Review:
Reviewed by Laura Fabiani
This is the first time I read a book in verse and I simply loved it. Although I no longer read middle grade fiction with my kids (they're teens now) I will read a middle grade book from time to time if it catches my interest. This one did right from the start.
With few words and lyrical prose, this richly written tale quickly drew me into 11 year-old Bailey's life. She and her little brother are spending the summer with a kind grandmother they barely know while her parents go through marriage counselling. Their grandmother lives in an island town called Felicity Bay where all the townsfolk know each other and some mysterious things are happening through the prophesies of the town's former minister turned ice-cream salesman.
The setting of the beach and ocean is almost like a character in this novel, reminiscent of my own family's summers at Wildwood. Written in the first person through Bailey's point of view, we get to experience her coming-of-age view of learning the complexities of relationships, from her parents, to mother and daughter and even the townsfolk and each other. Bailey is such a lovely tween. She experiences wonder and touching moments as she forges a friendship with her grandmother and also the neighbouring boy who suffers from cystic fibrosis. She also experiences heartbreak as she tries to figure things out about her fighting parents.
It is a summer in which she will learns things about herself and about her family. She will learn that there are things she cannot change and things she can change and make a difference. I was impressed at how easily the author developed such unforgettable characters using free verse, all while building a great plot with excellent pacing.
I know I would have loved this book as a tween, and I highly recommend it. It's delightful and poignant and one of my favorite books so far of 2017.
Disclosure: Thanks to PajamaPress for sending me this book for review. I was not compensated in any other way, nor told how to rate or review this product.
Shari Green writes Young Adult and Middle Grade fiction. She’s in love with stories and the sea, and can often be found curled up with a good book and a cup of tea, or wandering the beaches near her home on Vancouver Island, BC, Canada.
With few words and lyrical prose, this richly written tale quickly drew me into 11 year-old Bailey's life. She and her little brother are spending the summer with a kind grandmother they barely know while her parents go through marriage counselling. Their grandmother lives in an island town called Felicity Bay where all the townsfolk know each other and some mysterious things are happening through the prophesies of the town's former minister turned ice-cream salesman.
The setting of the beach and ocean is almost like a character in this novel, reminiscent of my own family's summers at Wildwood. Written in the first person through Bailey's point of view, we get to experience her coming-of-age view of learning the complexities of relationships, from her parents, to mother and daughter and even the townsfolk and each other. Bailey is such a lovely tween. She experiences wonder and touching moments as she forges a friendship with her grandmother and also the neighbouring boy who suffers from cystic fibrosis. She also experiences heartbreak as she tries to figure things out about her fighting parents.
It is a summer in which she will learns things about herself and about her family. She will learn that there are things she cannot change and things she can change and make a difference. I was impressed at how easily the author developed such unforgettable characters using free verse, all while building a great plot with excellent pacing.
I know I would have loved this book as a tween, and I highly recommend it. It's delightful and poignant and one of my favorite books so far of 2017.
Disclosure: Thanks to PajamaPress for sending me this book for review. I was not compensated in any other way, nor told how to rate or review this product.
About the Author:
Shari Green writes Young Adult and Middle Grade fiction. She’s in love with stories and the sea, and can often be found curled up with a good book and a cup of tea, or wandering the beaches near her home on Vancouver Island, BC, Canada.
Post a Comment
Thank you for commenting! I appreciate your feedback.