Moonpenny Island, by Tricia Springstubb

Flor and Sylvie are the best of friends.  They live on Moonpenny Island - a small island that only boasts 200 residents when all of the summer folks leave.  Even though Sylvie and Flor seem quite different from one another, they compliment each other very well.  Sylvie doesn't make fun of Flor's fears, and when she does laugh at her, it's not the kind of laugh that hurts her feelings.

Imagine Flor's surprise when Sylvie announces that she is leaving Moonpenny and moving to the mainland in order to live with her aunt and her uncle and attend private school.  It seems that Sylvie's big brother's mess ups have made her parents want a better situation for her.

One day, Flor goes off on her bicycle to hang out in the old quarry after her parents have a fight. She runs into a girl she doesn't know! It's a girl with hiking boots wearing an oversized sweatshirt.  She says her dad is a geologist, and that they are on Moonpenny Island because of all of the fossils.  The girls strike up an awkward friendship and not unlike Flor and Sylvie, Flor and new girl Jasper need each other.

What follows is a poignant story of friendship, family and change. Springstubb is at her very best as she coaxes the characters along in their journeys and sets the stage for the story to unfold. This is the summer that everything is changing for Flor and her family.  It's that eye opening summer...the one where a certain degree of innocence is lost and truths are revealed.  The juxtaposition of the three families gives readers much to think about.

This is a book that will stay with readers.

The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place: The Unseen Guest

As you know, I am a sucker for the boarding school book.  And although these books do not take place at the Swanburne Academy for Poor Bright Females, I can't help but think on such a place as it has clearly coloured our young heroine Penelope Lumley.

In the latest installment, the Widow Ashton and her companion Admiral Faucet (pronounces Fah-say, if you please) have returned to the homestead.  The Widow to see her son Frederick, and the Admiral to woo the Widow and to launch his money making scheme of ostrich racing.  But when the pair arrive, Faucet's ostrich Bertha has escaped into the woods around the estate.  In fact, Penelope and the children come across the ostrich while on a nature hike in the woods, but no sooner do they see her than Bertha is off and running again.

Upon meeting the children, the Widow Ashton is quite taken with them, and Lady Constance who has never shown the children any affection to speak of, starts to fuss over them.  In fact, the first night of the visit, Penelope and the children are invited to dine with the family and they are regailed with the tale of Master Ashton's untimely death in a medicinal tar pit.  After dinner Frederick and the Admiral take the boys back to the study and hatch a plan to get Bertha back.  Faucet wants to catch her and Frederick wants to hunt her.  And they want to take the children due to their unique tracking abilities.

Penelope won't let the go without her and Cassiopeia, and since she is worried about Frederick's abissmal eyesight, she conspires with Faucet to have the expedition take place on the full moon when she knows full well that Frederick will be suffering from his "moon sickness".

What follows is an adventure that only Penelope could get into with the Incorrigibles.  Honestly, not as much happens in this installment as I was expecting.  There are of course the elements of the Swanburne education with the exploration of philosophers like Thomas Hobbes and Jean-Jacques Rousseau, synonyms, and prognostics.  There are also dappled mysteries like the sandwiches in the cave, and the identity of "Judge Quinzy".  But it seems that the biggest thing that is happening in The Unseen Guest is Penelope's own growth.  Why, for example, is she not finding the comfort she used to in the pony books of her childhood, and why does she yearn for adventure instead of comfort?

Overall, fans of the series will eat this one up.  I do hope, however, that the next adventure brings us closer to the reveal of not only the moon sickness, but of the identity of Quinzy as well!

Summer of the Gypsy Moths, by Sara Pennypacker

Stella is spending the summer living with her Great Aunt Louise on the Cape.  She is going to help Louise tend to the summer cottages adjacent to her little house.  Louise isn't a big one on emotion, and Stella is surprised when after talking to Louise about her mother and blueberries, Louise wraps her in a hug.  This pleases Stella, because she loves the idea of ties between people.  Since her own mother isn't exactly dependable, Stella likes the even nature of Louise and her clean house and tidy garden.  She even is trying to find a way to get along with foster kid Angel, who Louise took in thinking could keep Stella company. The two girls couldn't be more different, and Stella can't imagine why Louise thought having two girls was a good idea.

The thing is, Louise is older and she's not well.  Angel and Stella make a gruesome discovery when they come home from school one day, and they have some heavy choices to make.  Can they make a go of the summer on their own?  Should Angel run?  What will happen if folks find out they are living without any adult supervision?  And what are they going to tell George - the local who is supposed to help Louise take care of the rentals?  Most importantly, what are they going to do with Louise?

The girls decide to make a go of it, and have to figure out a way to get along.  Their differences turn out to be a good thing as Stella could use some fire and Angel could use some forethought.  Readers see the girls deal with bills, finding food, lying about Louise's whereabouts, and dealing with their own guilt.  All of this is wrapped up in Sara Pennypacker's rich prose, describing the Cape, the cottages, the beach, as well as the interconnected nature of life.  "I like to imagine the ties between us as strands of spider silk: practically invisible, maybe, but strong as steel.  I figure the trick is to spin out enough of them to weave ourselves into a net." (p.1)

Readers will be left wondering what they would do if they were ever in Stella and Angel's  predicament.   Honestly at first, I was wondering who I would give this book to.  It's clearly not for the same audience as Clementine.  There are heady issues in Summer of the Gypsy Moths, and at times the bigger ideas are a little scary.  Ultimately, however, this is a story of friendship, survival and hope, and thoughtful tweens will be ready for the serious nature of Stella and Angel's situation.

What Happened on Fox Street by Tricia Springstubb

Mo loves Fox Street but she especially loves it in the summertime.Sure she has to look after little sister Dottie, aka The Wild Child, but it was also the time of year that Mercedes comes to stay with her grandmother Da across the street.Mo cannot wait til Merce gets to Fox Street so they can hang out in “The Den” and drink Tahitian Treats together.

But this year, something has changed with Mercedes.She looks very grown up for one thing, what with her shaved head and her designer clothes. Mo knew that Mercedes had a new step father, but she didn’t know that they were “comfortable”. When Mercedes tells Mo that she’s starting to notice how run down Fox Street looks, and how even Da’s house isn’t what it used to be, Mo feels a distinct shift.And that is not a good thing.

Mo does not like change.

So when she takes a special delivery envelope for her Daddy one day, instead of passing it on like she promises she will, she opens it. It’s an offer on their house. Mo knows that her Daddy doesn’t like his city job, and she knows full well of his restaurant dream, and there’s no way she’s going to let him get this letter!

But no matter how much Mo wants things to stay the same, Fox Street is bound to change.Her Daddy’s dream is mighty big, neighbors may not be who Mo thinks they are, and her own sorrow about her mother is a shifting think in her chest.

Tricia Springstubb has written so much more than a simple story of growing up.She has written a whole neighbourhood full of folks so real readers will feel like they know them. Strong women like Da and Mrs. Steinbott bring the history of the street to life. The crazy Baggott boys bring vitality and movement. Mercedes brings progress and Mo herself is one of those kids that comes along every now and again who makes folks say, “she’s got an old soul”.

With hints of magical realism, and extraordinary turns of phrase that will give readers pause, What Happened on Fox Street is sure to generate buzz this year. There is something magical about this little book that will have readers looking for a flash of red in the ravines of their own lives.

The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place

Penelope Lumley has just graduated from Swanburne Academy for Poor Bright Females, where she was dropped off when she was four years old. At the Academy she was a bright student, fond of quoting the sayings of Miss Agatha Swanburne, and is now en route to interview for a job as a governess at Ashton Place. Her head mistress Miss Charlotte Mortimer penned Penny a glowing recommendation, and Penny is hoping for the best.

When she meets Lady Constance, Penny is a bit surprised when she ends up asking the lady of the house questions rather than the other way around. And for some reason Lady Constance really doesn’t want to talk about the children. In fact, she states that children are not very “interesting” to discuss.

But the real surprise comes when Penny does meet the children. Raggedy and kept wrapped in blankets in the barn, the three children howl away and act like animals. Penny soon learns that Lord Ashton found the children in his woods while out hunting, and instead of sending the children to a work house or an orphanage, he applied his “finders keepers” philosophy and decided to advertise for a governess instead.

Penny is soon knee deep in the task of re-education Alexander, Beowulf, and Cassiopeia (names chosen by the master of the house). She is sure that poetry, Latin and some etiquette will change their lives. The children and their governess are mostly left to themselves, until Lady Constance lets them know that she is planning her first Christmas fete as the lady of the house and that the children must be presentable by that time.

Penny is sure that she can have the children ready, but it seems that someone doesn’t want her to succeed. Who could it be?

Maryrose Wood has written an incredibly smart and engaging start to a series that has left me wanting more. The pacing is perfect, the voice of the narrator is polished and so much fun! All of the pearls of wisdom from Agatha Swanburne will have readers thinking, and no doubt quoting as well. My friends know that I usually bemoan the fact that so many titles develop into series…I hanker for the stand alone. The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place, however, does it right. The characters are interesting, the setting is clear and the writing is strong. Simply put, I cannot wait for the next installment!