Autistic Quentin is placed in a foster home when his mother is in the hospital. Three children are already there under the care of Mrs. K., a despondent Russian widow. Neveah, 13, is extraordinarily responsible, hardworking, and no-nonsense. Vic, 11, pretends to be a government superspy in order to cope with the deportation of his father, his only living parent. Mara, 8, doesn't talk much, and no one is sure how much English she understands. Together, they are the eponymous Echo Park castaways, and Quentin seems to fit right in. The four of them set off on a quest for Quentin to visit his mother in the hospital. (Astute readers will probably be able to guess the outcome of that for Quentin.) Neveah, Vic, and Quentin (though, oddly, not Mara) alternate as first-person narrators, sometimes providing different perspectives of the same event. Each narrator's distinct personality comes through, and the reader can discern the changes each experiences through the journey. The four begin as individuals and ultimately end up as a family. Hennessey's story is vivid, convincing, funny, and heartwarming.

Three foster siblings band together to help their newest brother.Nevaeh (who's black), Vic (who's Salvadoran), and Mara (who's Latinx) know the ropes of the foster-care system, and they're in a pretty great situation with their current foster mom, Mrs. K. But their newest arrival, Quentin (who's white), doesn't know that, and with his Asperger's, he finds the new family overwhelming. All he wants is to track down his mother, who is sick with cancer. Vic, who identifies as a kid secret agent, decides that the way to help Quentin is to take him on a quest to find his mom in the hospital (a few towns away), and he's the person for the job. What he doesn't count on is little Mara tagging along and Nevaeh taking it upon herself as the oldest to bring them all home. The narration alternates among three of the four kids (Mara, who speaks Spanish, never gets to tell her side of the story), each with a particular role in the family. The portrayals of Quentin's Asperger's and Vic's ADHD are respectful, but the overall construction of the book is chaotic, with so many quick switches from character to character that readers may be left fatigued or confused. Although Quentin's voice is distinct, Nevaeh's and Vic's are similar enough that readers have to pay particularly close attention.Heartfelt but exhausting. (Fiction. 8-12)

The Los Angeles foster care system makes a striking backdrop for this small-scale adventure with ample heart. The four children who live with overworked Russian widow Mrs. K include 13-year-old high achiever Nevaeh, who is black; Salvadoran Vic, a hyperactive 11-year-old who escapes into superspy fantasies; Quentin, a white kid on the autism spectrum; and Latinx Mara, a younger Spanish-speaking girl. The first three narrate the story, which follows them from gentrifying Echo Park to beach-adjacent Torrance on a quest to find Quentin-s mother; it-s unclear why Hennessey (The Other Boy) leaves Mara-s voice absent, but the omission seems unfair. Nevaeh is the voice of brutal realism: regarding Louis Sachar-s Holes, she observes: -It was nice to get a happy ending for a change, even when it was totally unbelievable.- Hennessey is honest about the realities of deportation and foster care but manages to create a believably gentle conclusion for her characters. And she earns her ending, in which the group moves beyond survival-based existences to looking out for each other and becomes a family in the process. Ages 8-12. (July)