Love, Aubrey

Title: Love, Aubrey

Author: Suzanne LaFleur

Summary: 11 year old Aubrey's dad and sister, Savannah have just recently died in a car crash and the book starts out with her living alone, as her mother just took off one day. After a week, her grandmother finds Aubrey and insists that she be her caregiver until Aubrey's mother can be found. Aubrey packs up to go live with her grandmother.

Things start out a little rough, and Aubrey still has obvious pain from the death of her family members and it comes in waves at the worst times. However, she meets her next door neighbors, two girls, and one is Aubrey's age. They become pretty fast friends and things begin to look up. Eventually, her mother is found and Aubrey is left to make a choice - and chooses what she probably would not have chosen in the beginning.

 

Comments: I loved this book. In fact, I read straight through it (It took me 2 hours, but I had the time, thankfully!). Aubrey is such a likeable character. It is easy to feel upset right along with her, and when she writes letters to her dad and sister and her sister's imaginary friend, I was nearly in tears. It was such a powerful book and everything was dealt with nicely. It was tragic, but there were boundaries that I did not see in another specific book (Nest).

I would recommend this for kids 10+ just because it is a little heavy.

Complaints: None!

 

Rating: 5 stars!

 

 

Listening for Lucca

Title: Listening for Lucca

Author: Suzanne LaFleur 

Summary: Siena and her family (Mom, Dad, & 3 yr. old brother Lucca) move from their NYC apartment to an old Victorian house on the ocean in Maine. She is finally making friends and shedding her "weird girl" image because of her obsession with collecting old things and her strange ability to see into the past. 

She finds a special pen and begins to write with it in a journal; but finds that when she puts pen to paper, she cannot control what she is writing and from the mysterious pen, a story of a girl from the 40s' and her brother who previously lived in the house. However, she finds out something troubling about how the girl and her brother end up and she knows she has to go back into history to change things. 

Meanwhile, her brother, Lucca, hasn't talked in about a year, and she realizes that the story that unfolds is the key to Lucca's voice. 

Comments: I really liked this book! It really made you think and the story was just so interesting. The idea was good, however, it reminded me a bit of Harry Potter or The Magic Half (2 separate books). 

It gave me the chills, the way she was able to go back and try and change things, and the story of Sarah and Joshua. I loved this book!

However, it is a bit deep, so I'd suggest this book to 10-11+ just because of some more dramatic themes. 

Complaints: The ending was nice, but it was, i thought, a bit of a weak end with Lucca just suddenly talking. However, I did enjoy seeing the problem resolved, so this isn't a big complaint. 

Rating: 5 stars!!!