A Tinfoil Sky

March 1, 2012

Gr 4-8-Mel's troubled mom, Cecily, says to the 12-year-old, "we're going home." Home is where Grandma Gladys lives, in an apartment with tinfoil in the windows. Mel has never had a real home and is looking forward to the move-until Gladys won't answer the door and shouts to her daughter, "Go away!...There isn't anything left in here for you to steal." Their car breaks down just outside town and Mel and her mom live out of it, going to a soup kitchen and begging for handouts. And then one day, Mel's mom doesn't return, having been caught shoplifting. After being homeless for several days, the girl is found and taken to her Grandma's house-except Gladys makes it obvious that she does not want her there. While Mel counts the days until her mother's release from jail, Gladys's feelings toward her granddaughter slowly soften. Supporting characters include a concerned soup-kitchen worker, a caring librarian, and Mel's first real friend. This heartwarming story is a strong debut. Recommend it to fans of Richard Peck's A Year Down Yonder (Dial, 2000).-Melissa Stock, Arapahoe Library District, Englewood, CO

Copyright 2012 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

March 1, 2012
Melody, 12, is afraid of her mom's boyfriend, so she is thrilled when her mom leaves him and says, We're going home. Mel barely remembers her grandparents and has imagined what home would be like, but when they arrive, her grandmother won't open the door. So it's back to soup kitchens, sleeping in the car, singing on street corners, and watching her mom struggle with alcohol. Mel spends her days in the library until her mom is arrested for shoplifting, and Mel is placed into the unwilling care of her grandmother. Asked by the judge if she needs anything, Mel responds, a library card. Slowly, her world begins to brighten through the kindness of the librarian, a mission worker, and a storekeeper with a family connection. Sand-Eveland has worked with homeless youths, and this touching picture of a child torn between her need for a stable home and her love for her troubled mother feels deeply authentic. While the spare prose feels too detached at times, this depiction of wounded people forming healing bonds goes straight to the heart.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2012, American Library Association.)