Starred Review Frost, the gifted poet who wrote The Braid (2006), Crossing Stones (2009), and Salt (2013), offers a new verse novel for younger readers. The story unfolds in the past, in the present, and in the imagination cle Arthur's imagination, that is. All day, Faith and Peter watch to see whether their uncle, grieving after Aunt Lucy's death, will come back to their farm, as usual, on the day the first apple falls from the tree in their yard. That evening, he returns. He stays to share meals and memories, to peel apples for applesauce, and to tell a story to his great-niece and great-nephew. But they wonder, this time will he finally reveal how he really lost half of his finger? Before he leaves, Uncle Arthur gives Peter the knife he's carried for 60 years and passes along to Faith the gift of storytelling. Written with simplicity and grace, the story is told in three distinctive voices four, counting the seven interspersed verses of "Lucy's Song." From the light, airy lattice motif that opens each chapter to the well-defined character portrayals throughout the book, beautiful shaded pencil drawings enhance the story. Fresh, sweet, and crisp, this novel has a magic all its own.

Young and old bridge the generational gap to find comfort amid loss.With this slim offering, Frost returns to the novel in poems, though for a younger audience than the recent Salt (2014). Working with Bates, Frost presents middle-grade readers with white siblings Faith and Peter, who find themselves a bit lost, wondering if beloved Uncle Arthur, a gifted storyteller and trickster, will make the annual trek to visit them for the first apple harvest following his wife's passing: "A smell in the air—if Lucy were here, / she'd breathe it deep. She'd smile wide. / That's all it would take—we'd be on our way: / Applesauce weather, she'd say." Aptly named Faith finds her hopes rewarded when, on the first apple's dropping, Uncle Arthur shows up despite her mother's and brother's doubts and Arthur's own hesitancy to return to a source of a lifetime of memories with Lucy. Throughout the tale, Bates' evocative oil-based pencil drawings build on the intimacy of Frost's narrative, deftly adding motion, whether it be in Faith's wind-swept hair or Peter hanging upside down from a tree. Frost's compact first-person poems shift in perspective from character to character, revealing the inner thoughts and feelings of each while simultaneously propelling the narrative and allowing for concise but realistic character development.Light yet poignant, this multigenerational family tale shows age proves no barrier when it comes to offering solace. (Verse/fiction. 8-12)

Young and old bridge the generational gap to find comfort amid loss.With this slim offering, Frost returns to the novel in poems, though for a younger audience than the recent Salt (2014). Working with Bates, Frost presents middle-grade readers with white siblings Faith and Peter, who find themselves a bit lost, wondering if beloved Uncle Arthur, a gifted storyteller and trickster, will make the annual trek to visit them for the first apple harvest following his wife's passing: "A smell in the air—if Lucy were here, / she'd breathe it deep. She'd smile wide. / That's all it would take—we'd be on our way: / Applesauce weather, she'd say." Aptly named Faith finds her hopes rewarded when, on the first apple's dropping, Uncle Arthur shows up despite her mother's and brother's doubts and Arthur's own hesitancy to return to a source of a lifetime of memories with Lucy. Throughout the tale, Bates' evocative oil-based pencil drawings build on the intimacy of Frost's narrative, deftly adding motion, whether it be in Faith's wind-swept hair or Peter hanging upside down from a tree. Frost's compact first-person poems shift in perspective from character to character, revealing the inner thoughts and feelings of each while simultaneously propelling the narrative and allowing for concise but realistic character development.Light yet poignant, this multigenerational family tale shows age proves no barrier when it comes to offering solace. (Verse/fiction. 8-12)