Olivia is exceptional at finding things, she gets a lead in Peter Pan, her new friend is blind, and she keeps finding the zoo’s runaway ostrich!
Age Range: 10 and up
Grade Level: 5 - 6
Hardcover: 288 pages
Publisher: Philomel Books (February 20, 2018)
Olivia is an eleven year old who has a special knack for finding things, but when her autistic older brother loses his toy ostrich, she can't find it and fears that his condition will get worse. The family revolves around taking care of her brother Jacob and Olivia dreams of more for her summer. Her favorite story, Peter Pan has open auditions for a summer theater and Olivia is offered the lead. However, she is concerned when her parents insist that Jacob also participate in the play. A temporary zoo moves into town for the summer and Olivia ends up befriending the zookeeper's son, who is blind, as well as helping a runaway ostrich who ends up in her yard in the middle of the night throughout the summer. All events tie together to help Olivia and her family learn and grow as they navigate having a child who has autism that they love but are not sure what is best for him.
KIds who have an interest in theater will enjoy this story as well as those who deal with a family member or classmate with autism. This book is a coming of age story of a girl who is learning more about herself and her family challenges in the course of a summer. Olivia has an interesting summer and it was fun to go along with her on her adventures. I think both boys and girls would enjoy this book. It is a book about family love and dealing with personal challenges. I think there is much to learn from this story. I give it a 4 out of 4.
I want to give a shout out to the fact that this author is from my state of Minnesota. I read her previous middle grade book called Waiting for Unicorns and loved it and looked forward reading this one!
No comments:
Post a Comment