Available:*
Library | Call Number | Status |
|---|---|---|
Searching... Salem Main Library | TEEN Lubner, S. | Searching... Unknown |
Bound With These Titles
On Order
Summary
Summary
Told with humor and heart, this is a middle grade story about family, friendship, and hope -- plus cats in sweaters!
Living in the small town of East Thumb, Maine, upstairs from her family's diner, twelve-year-old Lizzy Sherman searches for signs to guide her and perhaps guarantee her a bump-free path through life. She pays attention to the clouds in the sky, the ice cubes in her water, the heart-shaped puddle of the juice her friend spilled. If only she can figure out what the signs are trying to tell her, she'll know what to do next.
When Lizzy and her best friend go searching for a stray cat and find a runaway girl instead, they want to help. And when Lizzy notices a tiny four-leaf clover tattooed on the girl's hand, she knows it's a sign. Lizzy hides the girl inside her bedroom closet, convinced the girl will be able to protect Lizzy's family from tragedy. But signs can be tricky, and what the girl has to offer may be more valuable that luck.
Author Notes
Susan Lubner is the author of three picture books and the middle grade novel, The Upside of Ordinary . Her stories have also appeared in Spider and Highlights . Besides reading and writing, Susan loves taking long walks, spending time on the water at Cape Code, the color blue, painting, and eating lots of chocolate. She lives in Massachusetts, but was born and raised in Maine, where her family always had two, three, or sometimes four cats.
Reviews (5)
School Library Journal Review
Gr 3-5-Twelve-year-old Lizzy and her best friend Joss meet a runaway in an abandoned house. A firm believer in signs since a car accident two years ago, Lizzy invites Charlotte into her room when she spots a tiny four leaf clover on her hand. Lubner offers a tale with both humor and heartache: a project to knit cat sweaters benefiting a local shelter unexpectedly produces a runaway rebel and Lizzy's thematic sandwich creations amuse. Although somewhat simplistically resolved, especially given the age of the characters, the poignant issues of Charlotte's separating parents and Lizzy's mother's depression at the loss of their baby in the accident bring depth. Short sentences and delightful details create a similar air to recent quirky classics such as Sheila Turnage's Three Times Lucky. The cast of all-white characters might be typical of a small Maine town outside of Portland but feels a bit too conventional. VERDICT A lightweight piece of contemporary realism with atmospheric writing.-Erin Reilly-Sanders, University of Wisconsin-Madison © Copyright 2018. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
Lizzy, 12, lives above her family's diner, the Thumbs-Up, in East Thumb, Maine. Ever since a car accident two years earlier caused her mother to lose the baby she was carrying, Lizzy has been watchful for signs of things to come: when leaves swirl at her feet in the wind, for example, does it signify trouble brewing or an opportunity? Lizzy and her best friend, Joss, volunteer at an animal shelter and are knitting cat sweaters that they hope to sell to raise funds. When they follow a stray into an abandoned building, they discover Charlotte, a girl who has run away to escape trouble at home. After the building burns down, Lizzy invites Charlotte to hide in her bedroom, in part because she sees Charlotte's temporary tattoo of a four-leaf clover as a sign of good luck for her family's soon-to-arrive baby. But when Charlotte's family searches desperately for her (and it turns out that cats don't care for sweaters), Lizzy must learn to accept uncertainty. Characters are fully formed, and town details bring the reader into her world. Lizzy's struggles to adjust when events don't go according to plan are easily relatable in this coming-of-age journey that celebrates embracing the messiness of real life. Ages 8-12. Agent: Linda Epstein. (Nov.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Horn Book Review
After a family tragedy, Lizzy looks for signs everywhere. While following a stray cat, Lizzy and best friend Joss meet runaway Charlotte, who sports a four-leaf clover tattoo; Lizzy sees this as a sign and decides to help. Lizzy's vulnerability and love for her family shine in this tender tale of friendship, hope, and faith. A subplot involving fundraising for a local animal shelter lends additional warmth. (c) Copyright 2019. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
Lizzy is a big believer in signs. She's convinced they portend the futuregood or badif she can just interpret them correctly.Ever since her mother lost an unborn baby after a car accident two years earlier, Lizzy, 12, has been searching for signs that good luck will come, especially now that her mother's next pregnancy is almost over. After she and her best friend discover a runaway 11-year-old, Charlotte, hiding in an abandoned house, the pair team up to help the child. Charlotte has left home to try to force her separated parents to rethink divorce plans. But since the runaway might just represent good luck (because she has a four-leaf clover drawn on her hand), Lizzy does little to encourage the girl to go home, instead hiding her in her own closet. Only after she finally reveals to Charlotte the good-luck-charm role she's inadvertently playing does the younger girl decide to return home. Gentle Lizzy's need for a happy outcome for her mother makes her reliance on magical thinking plausible, although occasionally, her first-person narration leans toward a more authorial voice than appropriate. While Lizzy is fully realized, other characters are mostly distinguished by being exceptionally nice, limiting conflict in the tale. The book assumes the white default.Genial and pleasant but not exceptionally compelling despite dramatic scenarios. (Fiction. 9-12) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
After a tragic car accident causes her mother to miscarry, Lizzy starts looking everywhere for signs. Signs help her prepare for what's coming, so she's never taken by surprise again. When Lizzy and her best friend find a missing girl hiding in an abandoned apartment, Lizzy takes it as a good sign because the girl, Charlotte, has a four-leaf clover tattooed on her hand. Surely this must mean Lizzy's mother's new pregnancy will end well. Lizzy tries to keep Charlotte, a runaway, a secret, while dealing with a lot of emotional anxiety over the fact that her mom fell into a deep depression after losing the other baby. Lizzy slowly comes to an understanding that signs can't fix everything and that life is messy and unpredictable. While not offering a deep discussion of mental health, Lizzy's search for signs may be something anxious kids relate to and will hopefully inspire them to reach out to those around them. A good conversation starter for discussions on emotional and mental wellness.--Sarah Bean Thompson Copyright 2018 Booklist