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Summary
Summary
3 starred reviews * A Kirkus Best Book of 2017 * A New York Public Library Top Ten Books for Kids pick * An ALA Notable Book * 2018 NCTE Charlotte Huck Honor Book
From rising star Caela Carter, author of My Life with the Liars and How to Be a Girl in the World, comes a captivating and heartfelt story about siblings who learn that love can never be divided, only multiplied.
Flora and her brother, Julian, don't believe they were born. They've lived in so many foster homes, they can't remember where they came from. And even now that they've been adopted, Flora still struggles to believe that they've found their forever home. Though Flora is trying her best to trust two new people, when she finds out that there will be a new baby, she's worried that there won't be enough love for everyone.
So along with their new mother, Flora and Julian begin a journey to go back and discover their past--for only then can they really begin to build their future.
Perfect for fans of Rebecca Stead's When You Reach Me, Kathryn Erskine's Mockingbird, and Ali Benjamin's The Thing About Jellyfish, this powerful novel about love and family will inspire and delight readers of all ages.
Author Notes
Caela Carter received an MFA in Writing for Children from The New School in New York. She is an author and teaches at-risk kids and teens in alternative education programs. Her middle grade books include My Life with the Liars and her young adult books include Me, Him, Them and It; My Best Friend, Maybe; and Tumbling.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (4)
School Library Journal Review
Gr 5-7-Eleven-year-old Flora and her younger brother, Julian, have lived in so many foster homes that they have no memories of growing up and no history. They believe not only that they were never babies but also that they were never even born. This startling notion hooks readers from the first chapter: What happened to the siblings before they were adopted by Emily (whom Flora refers to as "Person")? Carter (My Life with the Liars) delicately draws readers into the lives of a group of people overcoming obstacles as they learn how to become a family. Through Flora's skittish, yearning voice, Carter explains the siblings' reluctance to accept that they have found their forever home: "We can't help preparing for the fall." The family's fragile progress is tested when Emily and her husband reveal they're having a baby and Flora fights with Elena, teen daughter of Emily's husband. To help Flora and Julian embrace their future, Emily takes them on a journey into the past, visiting their former foster homes and caregivers. During the trip, Carter truly shows her skill, observing simple moments of the tenuous yet growing bond between mother and children while painting an unflinching portrait of the tragic shortcomings of the foster care system. Strong secondary characters flesh out the narrative, but the novel's heart belongs to the relationship among Emily, Flora, and Julian as they learn how to trust and to meet one another's needs. VERDICT Addressing contemporary family issues and a child's timeless desire for self-knowledge, this title is a first purchase for middle grade collections.-Marybeth Kozikowski, Sachem Public Library, Holbrook, NY © Copyright 2016. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
This nuanced novel highlights the struggle to trust an adoptive family after a traumatic history in foster care. Even as 11-year-old narrator Flora and her younger brother settle into a comfortable life with adoptive parents, they think of themselves as the "Onlys": "Julian and me, the only steady things in the constantly shifting universe." Both siblings are dealing with the aftereffects of trauma, with Julian hoarding food and Flora struggling to pass fourth grade. The relationship between Flora and her "Person" (how she thinks of her adoptive mother) is especially compelling, and Carter (My Life with the Liars) believably illustrates that although the term "Person" sounds detached, it actually denotes a special status among Flora's many foster mothers. Flora's theories about her true origins, which appear between chapters, poignantly underscore her difficulty wrangling with a fractured history ("We came from the chaos, my brother and me. We were born out of the screams of other kids"). Carter's layered narrative-which also touches on divorce, stepfamilies, and welcoming a new baby-doesn't shy from pain as it testifies to resilience and the expansive power of love. Ages 8-12. Agent: Kate McKean, Howard Morhaim Literary. (Mar.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Horn Book Review
Foster kids Flora, eleven (but in fourth grade), and younger brother Julian have finally found a "forever" family in adoptive mother Emily, her husband Jon, and Jon's sixth-grade daughter Elena. When Mom announces she's having a baby, Flora and Julian worry about their security in the family. The members of this multiracial family and the people around them are all complex and well-rounded characters. (c) Copyright 2017. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Booklist Review
*Starred Review* After a long, troubling string of foster homes, 11-year-old Flora and her brother, Julian, were finally adopted two years ago. They're starting to feel comfortable with their mom, Emily, but now she's pregnant. The announcement raises distressing questions about real family and belonging, particularly because Flora and Julian know nothing about their biological parents, except that they were probably darker than Emily, who's white, but lighter than Emily's husband, who's black. In Flora's moving first-person narrative, the contrast between her poetic, perceptive inner monologue and the words she struggles to say out loud reveals the complicated process of sifting feelings of trust from a childhood full of abandonment, insecurity, and fear. When Emily takes Flora and Julian on a trip to visit the places they lived before she adopted them, they develop a stronger sense of identity and begin to feel moored to their past. Carter fleshes out Flora and Julian's story with dynamic side characters, particularly the adults, who, for all their patient understanding, still realistically make mistakes. Though some of the siblings' homes were awful, the loving ones demonstrate that, regardless of what a family looks like and there's not a single traditional family to be found here love can make all the difference. This stunning portrayal of the circuitous path of trauma and healing teems with compassion, empathy, and the triumph of resilience.--Hunter, Sarah Copyright 2017 Booklist