Grayson is waiting for her sister's eighteenth birthday so they can bust out of Tennessee's foster-care system and head for NYC. Meanwhile, Roxie can't wait to join her rock-star granny on tour and put "the Incident" and sixth grade behind her. But this pair of wild wallflowers wind up jilted by their loved ones, leaving them stuck in school. Though it seems like the year will drag on with pointless homework and run-of-the-mill bullies, the wind has other plans. Roxie's granny reappears after a storm, all traces of her memories gone. Her voice still sings on the air, however, making the rumors of the witching wind feel true. When the girls band together to find where this wind has taken what they love, they discover a magic that is a treasure on its own. Lloyd's charm and southern flair heap realism onto this breezy fantasy about family and friendship. Readers will fall in love with Grayson as the tough girl with "brittle bones" (osteogenesis imperfecta) and undoubtably relate to Roxie's struggle with body image.

New friends help each other find their missing loved onesAfter an embarrassing incident at the pool, Roxie Darling is dreading sixth grade. Granny, who's a folk singer, offered to take her on tour, suggesting she do virtual school, but then Granny seemingly took off without her, leaving Roxie devastated. Meanwhile, Grayson Patch, who uses a walker because of her brittle bones, is perfectly happy to have a new foster home for the two days until her beloved sister, Beanie, turns 18 and can become her guardian. But Beanie doesn't pick her up as planned and stops responding to messages. Assisted by the rest of their self-declared group of misfits in Club Yeehaw, the girls team up to find the missing "heart person" they each long for, even as a local meteorological phenomenon known as the Witching Wind comes howling down from the hills. Roxie and Grayson, who are cued white, burst to exuberant life in this warmhearted story. The members of the racially diverse supporting cast at times feel too idealized to be real, relatable people. Fans of fabulism will embrace the wild winds and the town legends about their origin, while realistic fiction devotees will appreciate the naturally developing friendships, strong family bonds, and straightforward portrayals of bullying, foster care, dementia, and rural life.A powerful paean to human connection with a dash of magic.(Fiction. 8-12)

Gr 4–6— As if starting middle school weren't challenging enough, Grayson and Roxie, both 12, are afraid they've lost the people they love most. Grayson doesn't plan to settle in with her new foster family or befriend her new classmates because she knows her older sister Beanie is going to become her guardian. Roxie is usually sunny and open-hearted, but when a mean girl's body-shaming taunts ruin the first school gathering, Roxie takes comfort in the promise of escaping middle school and going on tour with her musician grandmother. However, when Beanie doesn't appear or reply to any of Grayson's texts, and Granny Ruth, who has been forgetful lately, goes missing in the hills around their Tennessee town, Grayson and Roxie are determined to find them. Grayson's voice is sharp and spiky, while Roxie's thoughts have a folksy tone. Lloyd adds a layer of magic and mystery to the novel in the form of the "witching wind," a powerful phenomenon that howls over the county carrying away anything that's not clipped down and instilling fear in some residents. Grayson, Roxie, and the other members of the school newcomers club, a diverse and resourceful crew, search for the truth behind the legends in a somewhat jumbled series of outdoor adventures involving, among other things, an all-terrain vehicle, a nighttime cave exploration, and communicating with crows. VERDICT Although the plot sometimes gets tangled in metaphor, this is a warm and lyrical story about the ways that connections between loved ones can stretch across distance and time.— Jennifer Costa