copyright date: May 2012
primarily marketed for: intermediate readers (8 and up)
This is another book for younger readers. So, although the time you spend actually
reading Jake and Lily by Jerry Spinelli won’t be long, the time this story spends traveling around in your
heart will be immeasurable.
Spinelli is a master at getting straight to the heart of
what keeps people from accepting one another: differences. Through the story of young twins Jake and
Lily, he tells a story of tolerance, acceptance, and ultimately
friendship.
Jake and Lily have a very special relationship. They are able to connect with one another
through dreams and across distances. In
fact, as they write their stories for us in alternating chapters, they don’t
even need to read to know what they other has written.
Conflict settles into their lives when growing up threatens
to come between them. As Jake begins to
spend more time with a group of boys led by the roughest boy in the
neighborhood, his connection with Lily seems to fade.
Lily is forced to look elsewhere to fill the void left by
losing her brother’s friendship. While
Jake is succumbing to the guidance of a bully who leads the boys in a hunt for Goobers, Lily finds guidance in her
wise, earthy grandfather, Poppy.
In true Spinelli-style, both children figure out what it
means to be themselves. It is a story
for younger readers, but if contains Spinelli’s poetic voice of wisdom in lines
crafted like these:
[Jake]“He hates me. Ernest Lindop of Meeker Street hates me. I’ve never been hated before. It’s like sunburn on my heart.”[Lily]“What do you do while you’re waiting for your life to happen?”
Reading Jake and Lily
felt like eating dessert first. It was a
pure treat for my soul.
Reading Threads:
Terrific-I have heard that Spinelli has a new one-Thanks Christy!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the great review of this new one by a favorite author. Have you read his short story collection called (I think) The Library Card?
ReplyDeleteHi, Christy,
ReplyDeleteJust thought I'd say hello again and mention another gifted author for older middle-grade kids, Kevin Henkes. He's so well known for his picture books, but I love his novels, too.
Tasha is busy with school-related preparations and I'm sure you are, too. It's a hectic time of year.
If you ever would like to have an author visit through Skype, I'm available. I've done it about ten times, and it's a great way to connect with student readers -- if the technology cooperates!
Take care,
Sheila