Reviewed by Sally Kruger, aka "Readingjunky" for TeensReadToo.com
Garnet Hubbard is having a fairly good summer and is even excited about the prospect of entering seventh grade in the fall. Her life in Mirabeau, Texas, is filled with family and friends. All of that changes overnight.
Self-centered Melanie Hubbard, Garnet's mother, decides to seek her fortune as a country singer in Nashville. Because Garnet's father works on an oil tanker in the Gulf, Garnet and her sister are dropped off at Aunt Julia's when their mother runs off. The two girls begin life on their spinster aunt's lonely homestead outside the dusty Oklahoma town of Willow Flats.
Life in Willow Flats is dull and boring. School starts with pretty, popular Opal fitting right in, while Garnet's days are filled with teasing and taunting from the locals. News of an accident on the oil tanker and their father's serious injury creates worry for an already stressed Garnet. And when his disability checks never seem to arrive, Aunt Julia must resort to selling prized possessions and seeking help from welfare to keep the girls fed and clothed.
D. Anne Love does a superb job describing Garnet's frustration toward her absent mother, her attempts to fit in as part of Willow Flats, and the discovery of previously hidden talents and future dreams. Garnet's story will tug at the heartstrings of anyone who has suffered disappointments from those they love and found the courage to carry on despite them.
Garnet Hubbard is having a fairly good summer and is even excited about the prospect of entering seventh grade in the fall. Her life in Mirabeau, Texas, is filled with family and friends. All of that changes overnight.
Self-centered Melanie Hubbard, Garnet's mother, decides to seek her fortune as a country singer in Nashville. Because Garnet's father works on an oil tanker in the Gulf, Garnet and her sister are dropped off at Aunt Julia's when their mother runs off. The two girls begin life on their spinster aunt's lonely homestead outside the dusty Oklahoma town of Willow Flats.
Life in Willow Flats is dull and boring. School starts with pretty, popular Opal fitting right in, while Garnet's days are filled with teasing and taunting from the locals. News of an accident on the oil tanker and their father's serious injury creates worry for an already stressed Garnet. And when his disability checks never seem to arrive, Aunt Julia must resort to selling prized possessions and seeking help from welfare to keep the girls fed and clothed.
D. Anne Love does a superb job describing Garnet's frustration toward her absent mother, her attempts to fit in as part of Willow Flats, and the discovery of previously hidden talents and future dreams. Garnet's story will tug at the heartstrings of anyone who has suffered disappointments from those they love and found the courage to carry on despite them.
