Wednesday, May 20, 2020

Josie Bloom and the Emergency of Life by Susan Hill Long - OPTIONAL

Josie Bloom and the Emergency of Life by Susan Hill Long 278 pages. Simon and Schuster, 2020 $18.00 

Content: G. 

BUYING ADVISORY: EL - OPTIONAL 

AUDIENCE APPEAL: LOW 

When 11yo Josie was 9, her mom unexpectedly dies from a heart attack, so her grandpa moved in. But lately, Grandpa is starting to act strangely, hiding money around the house, not paying the bills and feeding squirrels whose numbers increase by the day. Josie is afraid that without Grandpa, she will be alone, taken in by child protective services. If only she knew who her father was, he would take care of everything. In the meantime, she uses the "found money" to pay the bills and has figured out how to write a check to pay the mortgage - but taking care of grandpa when he should take care of her is a difficult task for an 11yo, especially when Josie hasn't told anyone except her best friend. 

There's baseball in this book - Winky her best friend is a baseball fan and he's losing his eyesight, so getting him to the annual Beep Ball Bash in Boston was a fun subplot. However, I just wasn't enthused, there were a lot of towns people who didn't do much to advance the story, plot devices that solved problems or made matters worse. And, on a personal note - Winky tells her he doesn't like his nickname, and Josie, his only friend continues to use it. 


Lisa Librarian

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