If it can't be warm and green outside, at least you can let your imagination wander to places that are balmy and fragrant. These long stretches in January when you don't want to go out are a great time to catch up on summer reads that you didn't get around to when you were busy! To that effect, I bring you a book full of joy and delightful characters.
Like a bittersweet glass of lemonade on a hot day, "Sparrow Road" by Sheila O'Connor is meant to be savored slowly. It's a tale of memories lost and found, of things hidden and revealed, of leaving and returning. But mostly it is about creating, forgiving, and grace.
Nothing is as it seems at Sparrow Road. When Raine's mother packs the two of them up suddenly and moves them from their apartment in Milwaukee with Grandpa Mac, she expects to hate the artist colony where her mother will work for the summer. Sparrow Road is an old mansion out in the country, haunted by the memory of orphans. At first Raine wants nothing to do with the silent and unplugged lives of the artists there--colorful Josie, boisterous Diego, uptight Eleanor, and frail Lillian. But she discovers that there are many mysteries surrounding Sparrow Road, even some involving her own family. The truth she encounters could change her life forever, and Raine has to decide if she wants to let that change come.
With all the discovery and wonder of a childhood summer adventure, Sparrow Road is a lovely and gentle story of the importance of family in any shape and size, as well as the power of art to heal and bring people together.
Andrea W., Headquarters
P.S. For another great summer adventure, give "Gone-Away Lake" by Elizabeth Enright a try!
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