Shayne's ready to spend the summer with her best friend Poppy, but things are different the moment she arrives at her grandmother Bea's house. Not only has Bea gone back to work as a waitress, but whenever Poppy's not too busy to spend time with Shayne, she only wants to talk about boys. Shayne works on tidying up Bea's house and getting her many, many trinkets ready to sell at the flea market, but just when things are looking up, Bea becomes unwilling to let go of her treasures, and brings more into a house already packed full. As Shayne's beloved summer routine unravels around her, she begins to realize that, much like Bea, she just has to let some things go. Told in the voice of a spunky, hopeful 12-year-old, this story explores not only the importance of family but the reality that some people grow apart. Realistic descriptions detail what it's like to live with a hoarder and the reluctance to let go of sentimental treasures. This beautiful story reminds readers that there's much more to life than material objects.

The life of Chagall--amid turbulent times in the twentieth century--is captured in Rosenstock's rhythmic, lyrical text with a repeated, thematic refrain: "Through the window, the boy sees... / ...the student sees... / ...the painter sees..." GrandPri's acrylic paintings likewise capture the feel of Chagall's art, both in the images (windows, musical instruments, animals, etc.) and in the geometric style and saturated colors, especially his signature blue. Bib.

This summer is not at all what 12-year-old Shayne had hoped for.Shayne loves summering with her loving grandparents in their quaint lobstering town in Maine. She relaxes with them and swims with her friend Poppy. This year is different. After Grandpa's earlier death in a boating accident, her grandmother Bea needs Shayne's help preparing cascading piles of accumulated stuff to sell at the flea market. It quickly becomes evident that Bea is extremely reluctant to part with even the smallest, most tattered items, each of which to her embodies a story. With dismay and frustration, Shayne begins to realize that Bea's pack-rat tendencies have grown to hoarder proportions. Then their already-stressed relationship crumbles when Shayne, behind Bea's back, comes up with a plan to clear away the junk. Shayne also feels she's lost her main ally, as Poppy has become increasingly interested in boys. Each chapter is headed with a cheerful, folksy adage such as, "Saltwater Cures All Wounds," and the seemingly all-white town is populated with kind, eccentric residents, including Shayne's newest friend, who is a costumed Civil War enthusiast. The challenges, however, presented with candor and naiveté in Shayne's voice, are real and troubling. This intelligent exploration of the grandparent-grandchild relationship recognizes that within every person reside contradictions.This absorbing middle-grade read gently but unflinchingly considers the common ground of growing up and growing old. (Fiction. 9-13)