Available:*
Library | Call Number | Status |
|---|---|---|
Searching... Hardwood Creek Library (Forest Lake) | PICTURE BOOK LIM | Searching... Unknown |
Searching... Oakdale Library | PICTURE BOOK LIM | Searching... Unknown |
Searching... Park Grove Library (Cottage Grove) | PICTURE BOOK LIM | Searching... Unknown |
Searching... R.H. Stafford Library (Woodbury) | PICTURE BOOK LIM | Searching... Unknown |
Searching... Wildwood Library (Mahtomedi) | PICTURE BOOK LIM | Searching... Unknown |
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Summary
Summary
What do you do when your best friend moves away? This hopeful and resonant book filled with soft, vibrant illustrations tells the story of two friends who find a way to keep their special friendship alive, no matter the distance.
Every day, Sofia and May meet at the door of their shared fence. Sofia can always count on May to show up and May can always count on Sofia to wait for her. One spring day, Sofia and May discover a field of wild sourgrass flowers beyond their yards. The field becomes their favorite place, and the two friends grow closer than ever. But when May moves away, Sofia starts to worry: Will their friendship last?
As the girls navigate a long-distance friendship, Sofia realizes that some friends are forever, even when they're apart.
Author Notes
Hope Lim is the author of the picture books I Am a Bird , My Tree , Mommy's Hometown , and Sourgrass . Born and raised in South Korea, Hope now lives in San Francisco with her family. Visit her at HopeLim.com.
Shahrzad Maydani is an illustrator and storyteller based in Maui, Hawaii, where she lives with her family. She was raised in Africa by an Iranian mother and an English father, and she spent her childhood collecting and telling stories. Shahrzad is the illustrator of the picture books Poetree by Shauna LaVoy Reynolds, Always Sisters by Saira Mir, and Sourgrass by Hope Lim.
Reviews (2)
Kirkus Review
Sofia and May share a special friendship that weathers both distance and time. The fence that separates the girls' houses becomes the door to friendship. After spending spring and summer playing in a nearby field of sourgrass and making a game out of spitting sourgrass stems, the two resolve to be best friends forever. After May moves away, the children initially exchange letters, but May stops writing, and Sofia wonders if she's been forgotten. When the sourgrass blooms the following spring, however, Sofia tastes one of the flowers and is reminded of the strength of their bond. Soon, she receives a note from May, and a potential new friend appears by the fence. The lovely, poetic text conveys the depths of childhood friendships and the pain of life's inevitable changes. Readers will wonder, right along with Sofia, whether May will return her letters. Warm illustrations, rendered in chalk pastel and watercolor, are every bit as vibrant as a blossoming friendship or a summer day. One particularly stunning image spans two pages and shows Sofia observing a stem of sourgrass growing through a crack in the fence. The flower lights up the page, a smudge of yellow playing across Sofia's nose, while warm oranges and pinks soften the scene. Lim and Maydani offer a realistic yet hopeful depiction of ever changing, meaningful childhood bonds. Sofia is Black, while May presents white. A gentle tug at the heartstrings. (Picture book. 4-6) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
Lim's story follows neighbor-friends Sofia and May as their friendship blossoms and blooms over the shared fence of their backyards. Using a rich pastel palette and closely following the movement of the two energetic children, Maydani's artwork enhances this sweet tale of two friends sharing their summer adventures and looking for the good in each other. When Sofia and May leave their houses and backyards and find a sea of sourgrass, they vow to be best friends forever, no matter what. But when May moves away and the letters slow down, Sofia struggles through a cold and colorless winter without her friend and learns to trust May's promise. As spring--and the sourgrass--blooms again for Sofia, Lim's story reminds us that true friendship endures the harshest season, validating the emotional struggles over friends moving away, even as we root for Sofia and May to be reunited and to rekindle their friendship in the bright, sunlit patch of sourgrass.
