Summerlost by Ally Condie

"It is possible to be different and still belong to your family. For them to love you like crazy."

I grew up on books like A Taste of Blackberries and Bridge to Terabithia where a best friend of the protagonist dies near the end. I feel that sometimes books like that end where they should begin because they don't spend much time dealing with how a child copes with loss.

Enter Summerlost by Ally Condie. Condie is the author of the best-selling Matched trilogy. Summerlost is the story of a summer that Cedar spends with her mother and brother in a new home a year after they lost their father and another brother in a car accident. Another important topic that this book talks about is what it is like to have a sibling with special needs. It captures the love and the frustration and the guilt.

Now that I've made it sound like a book to read just to learn a lesson, it also has a really great story with great characters. I recommend it to any middle grade reader.
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Summerlost
By Ally Condie
Publisher: Dutton Children's Books
Year: 2016
Ages: Middle Grade Books

You can find this book on Amazon (affiliate link), at an independent bookstore, or at your local library.

Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse (Newbery Winner)

Once upon a time I made a goal to read all the Newbery Medal books. It's a goal that once met, was easy to maintain as it requires I read one new book each year. There are some weird stories that won back in the early days, but there are some beautiful books sprinkled throughout, especially in the last thirty or so years.

Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse stands out to me as a great book among other great books. The novel is told in verse form by young Billie Jo as she and her family live through the Dust Bowl of the 1930s and as she goes through unimaginably hard challenges. Since it's told in verse, the writing is especially sparse and beautiful--every word has a reason for being there. And the story is engaging, at times heartbreaking, and ultimately inspiring.

This book is great for middle grade and young adult readers alike. It's a good introduction to verse, or poetry, because it tells a story. The story is interesting enough to keep their attention, and it teaches about a part of American History. Many adults will enjoy this book too--it was well received when the women in my book club all read it.

(I will warn that there is death in the book. Not that children and young adults shouldn't read about death. But I've learned to be aware of recommending books with death and loss in them to children who have experienced a recent death in the family. Wait till emotions are less raw.)
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Out of the Dust: A Novel
By Karen Hesse
Publisher: Scholastic
Year: 1997
Info: won Newbery Medal, told in verse
Ages: Middle Grade, Young Adult
Themes: family, Dust Bowl, the Great Depression, historical fiction, loss, coming of age
Source: my bookshelf