Eat, Read, and Be Mommy

This is a beautiful thing, folks. Sadly, we have no piano because our piano teacher’s husband passed away (he was on hospice, so it at least wasn’t a shock), but the trunk or treat this Saturday night means no youth activity on Wednesday, and we have no dance because it’s the dance teacher’s school district’s fall break. Today is blessedly free during the day as well–other than making sure an overlooked library book gets back to the library, I have zero things that MUST be done today. I was thinking I’d cut up a crockpot of apples for apple butter, but I had to clean up the kitchen first, and now I’m thinking I might attack our food room instead.

There are, of course, plenty of things I can (and should) be doing.

Anyway. Before I head down to said food room, I figured I’d review Cynthia Lord’s Home Away From Home, since I finished that on Monday. It’s her newest and it’s set in Maine, which I love; Mia is staying with her grandmother in Stone Harbor for the summer while her mom gets their house ready to sell. She’s not thrilled about moving, but her parents are divorced and her mom and Scott, her mom’s boyfriend, are buying a house together. When her grandmother’s new neighbors make Maine feel different as well, Mia’s resulting defensiveness leads to some unfortunate decisions on her part.

Some of those decisions involve phone use and online choices, which is why I’m thoroughly excited to give this to my 14-year-old now that I’m done (she got her first phone in August). Mia is a good kid and means well, but she doesn’t think through the possible consequences of her choices, and the parent in me is hoping that her story will help my child gain some wisdom without the necessity of personal experience. My daughter is also enough of an animal lover that she’ll probably relate to the birder aspect of the plot more than I did, so that’s another win. Ultimately, Cynthia Lord’s writing style is better suited to my daughter than to me, and since that means Lord knows her target audience, that’s all to the good. Birders and tweens/younger teens should enjoy this one, as well as those who have a parent with issues. I’ll let you know what my daughter thinks!