The Summer We Lost Her by Tish Cohen

The Summer We Lost Her: A Novel by Tish Cohen. Scout Press, Simon and Schuster, 2019. Adult fiction.  On sale 6/4/2019)

Matt Sorenson, a lawyer, and his wife, Elise, a dressage horsewoman destined for the Rio Olympics, have one child, Gracie. Life recently has been difficult with Elise away for weeks at a time and Matt struggling to single parent and become partner in the firm. Gracie's smiles and determination as she navigates her turquoise crutches are lights in their lives.

Matt's now deceased grandfather, Nate, had an estate on Lake Placid, New York. It's here that the little family plan to pack up and sell it all. Elise doesn't realize that Matt's old love, Cass, lives right next door. Matt doesn't realize what Nate's accumulation of land involved. Elise keeps her own secrets close. And, then, Gracie goes missing.

A story of essentially what really matters in life, this novel well describes the small community, the haves and have-nots, the price people pay for what they think they want. Cohen knows the setting well and readers will feel like they are right there. She also is adept at describing the humans and their strengths and foibles. Will they find Gracie? Will their love survive either way?  Full of suspense, simmering attraction, and a parent's worst fear, this is a book to pack in your summer bag!

The Donkey Egg by Janet Stevens and Susan Stevens Crummel

  The Donkey Egg by Janet Stevens and Susan Stevens Crummel. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2019. Children's picture book.

Those of us familiar with Bear and Hare in the Stevens/Crummel collaboration Tops and  Bottoms, another picture book, will laugh out loud at the return of these characters. New fans will be charmed, too.

Add Fox to this colorful tale, and the trickster story begins as Fox cleverly sells an obvious watermelon to Bear. Fox convinces Bear that, with patience, he can hatch a donkey from the "egg". Poor Bear does everything he can. He keeps the egg warm. He keeps the egg safe. He keeps the egg happy. Hare lends support every time he makes a running loop as he trains for another race. Finally, when the "egg" falls and breaks, Bear and Hare plant the seeds, grow real watermelons, and buy a donkey with their proceeds! What a turn of events for confused Fox!

Little boxes show exactly how long minutes, hours, days, and weeks can be. Math teachers will want to key in on the possibilities to slip math information painlessly into lessons! The large and colorful illustrations invite exploration. Humorous rhyming words help pass the waiting time and roll off the reader's tongue. Another winner from this dynamic sister duo!

The Gown: A Novel of the Royal Wedding by Jennifer Robson

  The Gown: A Novel of the Royal Wedding by Jennifer Robson. 

                                   William Morrow (an imprint of HarperCollins), 2019. Adult fiction.

Ann and Miriam have very different backgrounds, but become friends when they both work as 

embroiderers at the famous Hartnell design studio in London. Imagine their amazement when they

work on the wedding dress for Princess Elizabeth! 

The story is juxtaposed with chapters about Heather and her grandmother in Canada. Readers gradually learn how they are connected with the historical part of the book. 

The writing is smooth, the characters are well developed. Readers will enjoy learning more about

the royal wedding, but especially enjoy living in the fictional shoes of ones who might have been

there. 

Sadie and the Silver Shoes by Jane Godwin

  Sadie and the Silver Shoes by Jane Godwin. Illustrated by Anna Walker. Candlewick Press, 2019, first U.S. edition. Published in 2018 in Australia. Picture book.

A little girl flew by me in the American Girl store this morning. She had on a pair of glittery silver Mary Jane shoes. "Hey, wait, " I called. She stopped and stared at me. "I just read a book about a little girl with silver shoes," I told her. "I have silver shoes, " she told me. The perfect beginning to talk about this great picture book, right?

Sadie has three brothers. She wears their handed down clothes, but gets her own underwear and shoes. When shoes are one of the few things that you control in life, it's important to pick the right pair. Sadie chooses silver shoes, but loses one on a family outing. She loves the left over shoe so much that she pairs it with one shoe from other pairs. When she meets a new friend, Ellie, she learns that Ellie has a silver shoe, too...one that she found at the beach! Of course, Ellie tells Sadie that she can have the shoe back, but thoughtful Sadie decides that friends do share and that they will share the shoes. The last page shows and tells about their glee at having a friend and having a silver shoe.

The illustrations are done with water colors and collage. They are mostly soft colors with many small illustrations on some pages. The family is delightful. One big center spread shows the underwater rocks and fishes where the shoe has fallen. The words are childlike, but clear. This is one of my very favorite new picture books. Obviously, I cannot resist sharing it! 

Stepsister by Jennifer Donnelly.

Stepsister by  Jennifer Donnelly. Scholastic Press, June, 2019. YA fiction.

Have you ever wondered what happened after Cinderella married the handsome prince and rode off? Maybe you identified with the sarcastic and mean stepsisters?  Or, did you wonder about their cutting off their own toes to fit into the glass slipper? Well, Jennifer Donnelly has written this tale to set the story straight, Isabelle and Octavia, the stepsisters, have major roles in this fairy tale retelling. They realize how unfair they were to Ella. Isabelle, is the star of this version, and it is worthy of a major motion picture. Donnelly writes scenes that jump off the page with action, interesting plot developments, and new characters who fit right into the age old story. By the end, even Ella makes an appearance again, and readers may find they have new heroines who are smart, funny, brave, and compassionate. (Prepublication copy was basis for this review.)

The Farm: A Novel by Joanne Ramos

  The Farm by Joanne Ramos. Random House, May, 2019. Adult fiction.

A "resort" in the Hudson Valley called Golden Oaks is home to pregnant women who have signed contracts to give up their babies to the ultra wealthy who will pay big dollars for healthy babies. Jane already has a baby girl, but leaves her with her aunt in the hopes of making enough money to set them up for life. Her roommate, Reagan, has come from privilege and is the opposite of her own Filipino customs and values, it seems to Jane. Lisa, a ruler breaker if ever there was one, leads the girls astray. The well educated and savvy young Asian woman who runs the complex has strict rules and big plans for expansion of the business.  When Jane cannot contact the aunt and gets worried about her own little girl, the plot gets really complicated. Reader will enjoy the inner turmoil of the main characters, their interactions, and the resolution of all of their lives. This book is one that is so timely with immigration, housing, socioeconomic levels, and family bonds all wrapped up in great storytelling. (Reviewed from prepublication copy)

Paper Ghosts by Julia Heaberlin

  Paper Ghosts: A Novel of Suspense by Julia Heaberlin. Ballantine Books (Random House), 2018. Adult fiction.

When her older sister is kidnapped and murdered, the narrator is twelve years old. Now an adult, she thinks she knows who killed her sister and several other young women. Determined to take Carl, a senior citizen who exhibits symptoms of dementia and who is an award winning photographer, on a road trip to spark his memory and maybe prove her theories, the narrator springs Carl by claiming to be his daughter and off they go. This is a waltz across Texas: Calvert, Galveston, Muleshoe, and behind the "Pine Curtain" in East Texas, the duo have unexpected adventures. Is Carl dangerous? Is the girl telling the whole truth? Heaberlin takes readers along for the ride in this creepy, suspenseful story that will have everyone up late reading to see what happens.