Available from Audible
| Author: Cynthia Lord |
| Genre: Contemporary Fiction |
| Publication Date: 2010 |
| Publisher: Scholastic Inc. |
| Pages: 192 |
| For Grades: 4- 7 |
| Interest: Ages 9 – 13 |
| Lexile Measure: 750L |
| Mood: Reflective and hopeful |
Themes
- Family
- Siblings
- Foster care
- Parental drug addiction
- Compassion
- Empathy
- Belonging
- Love, loss, and acceptance
- Collecting “lucky” objects
- Hardships of the foster care system lifestyle
- Lobster fishing for a living
- Small community island life
- Oral tradition
- Legends and superstition traditional to an isolated community
Summary
Heartwarming, maritime themed tale of a boy struggling to find a place of belonging amid the foster care system that has dominated his life since he was small, and the newest family’s attempts to make him feel welcome.
Told from the perspective of Tess Brooks, the sister figure and oldest daughter of the Brooks’ family, Tess wants nothing more than to stay forever on her beloved island off the coast of Maine. State officials threaten to shut down the little island’s schoolhouse due to low enrollment as families start moving to the mainland. To Tess, leaving would change her very way of life, strip her of her identify, and steal away the home holds so dear. In an attempt to keep their schoolhouse open, several island families volunteer to take in foster children to boost enrollment numbers back up. The Brooks are set to meet Aaron, a 13-year-old boy who has been shunted from family to family for several years and needs yet another placement. Bitter and with a habit of pushing people away out of fear of further abandonment, Aaron does not respond to Tess, her little sister’s, or anyone else’s overtures of friendship.
Refusing to give up on him, Tess stays close to Aaron and takes him to meet various islanders. After discovering his remarkable coping mechanism and talent as a musical virtuoso, Tess meddles in the background to get Aaron’s talent brought into the open hoping that, if he feels appreciated, he will want to stay. Soon, Aaron alternates his time between practicing his music in the town church and going lobster fishing with Tess and her father. He is slowly realizing he could have a place in the island community if he allows himself to try. But Aaron is not ready to let go of the idealistic hope that he can somehow reunite and go back to living with his troubled mother. Taken away from her at the age of 5 due to her drug use and alcoholism, Aaron has been waiting many long years for her to clean up her act so she can earn him back like she claimed she would. Tess firmly believes Aaron needs her help finding acceptance with his mother so he can move forward with his life and stop letting the past hold him back from finding happiness. Will her machinations land them both in more trouble? Will Aaron stay or go and what will that mean for her? And will Tess learn that her identify is bigger than the place she lives in?
