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Summary
Summary
Diana loves where she lives. She loves the astronomy charts on her walls and the fact that she can wave to her best friend, Rose, from her very own window. And best of all, a wren has recently made its home right by her front door! When her family is forced to move, Diana wonders if she'll ever find that same grounded and happy feeling again.
This gentle and ultimately redeeming story in poems is about those secure and fulfilling friendships that happen naturally and easily when you live right next door, and the struggles of losing the comfort of a familiar place. Matt Phelan's warm and expressive illustrations perfectly complement Eileen Spinelli's tender-hearted and unique tale that reminds us that sometimes a little uprooting and change is necessary for growth.
Author Notes
Eileen Spinelli was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on August 16, 1942. After high school, she worked as a waitress at a local diner, a secretary, and answered phones at an airplane factory. She eventually became the author of children's books. Her picture books include Thanksgiving at the Tappletons, Do You have a Hat, While You are Away, When Mama Comes Home Tonight, Wanda's Monster, Here Comes the Year, A Big Boy Now, and Hug a Bug. She is also the author of several short novels including Lizzie Logan Wears Purple Sunglasses, Lizzie Logan Gets Married, and Lizzie Logan, Second Banana. She received the Christopher Award for Somebody Loves You, Mr. Hatch.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (4)
School Library Journal Review
Gr 1-4-Precocious Diana loves astronomy, poetry, and sleepovers with her best friend, Rose. She's content with the way things are: her sun poem won the school contest, she is painting her room midnight blue to go with her star charts, and a bird family has made a nest in a wreath on the front door of her house. She even enjoys her little sister, Twink, who can be pesky at times, gets itchy on long car rides, and manages to get covered in midnight blue paint. Then, Diana gets bad news: her dad has lost his job, and they're moving six hours away to live with Grandpa Joe. She must say goodbye to her old home and to her best friend. Spinelli crafts a reassuring and engaging story in verse, and young readers facing similar circumstances will find their experiences and emotions echoed in Diana's thoughtful musings. The girl finds great solace in her poetry journal and is able to work through her emotions in a creative way. Phelan's charming pencil drawings are a perfect complement to this heartfelt tale.-Marilyn Taniguchi, Beverly Hills Public Library, CA (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Horn Book Review
When Diana discovers that her father lost his job and their family has to move, she laments leaving home and her best friend. The first-person free verse is elegant (though not always believable as a child's voice); the resolution is a bit facile. The book's careful design and Phelan's sweetly simple illustrations bolster the spare writing style. (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.
Kirkus Review
First-person free-verse poems describe the emotional journey made by one little girl when her family is forced to move. Diana is perfectly happy where she lives: Her house is yellow with white shutters, has a maple tree she planted in the front yard and a midnight-blue bedroom painted by Diana and her best friend Rose. But when her father loses his job, the family must move across the state to Grandpa Joe's, leaving behind Rose, the maple tree and the poetry workshop she'd competed for a spot in. Spinelli employs the shortest of lines in her brief poems, Diana's voice ingenuously describing the simple, perfect life of a middle-grader interested in astronomy and poetry, and whose family and friends provide all she needs. So well does she execute her exposition, however, that Diana's eventual adjustment to her new home, aided by her poetry and her new friend Sam, makes for a somewhat abrupt, if satisfying resolution. Phelan's winning spot illustrations match the poems in brevity and sensitivity, ably complementing the text. All in all, a pleasing portrait of the healing that can follow an all-too-common childhood trauma. (Fiction/poetry. 7-11) Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
When Dad stops telling jokes and Mom laughs less than usual, grade-schooler Diana worries. Then comes the good news: My parents / are not / getting / a / divorce. The bad news? Dad has lost his job, and the family must move. Told in free-verse, this quiet, polished novella shows Diana's struggle to accept her situation, aided in part by a mind-expanding poetry workshop. Phelan's frequent pencil drawings extend Spinelli's poems with images of an affectionate, concerned family and scenes of joy and sadness shared with best friend Rose, who is African American. In a market crowded with novels-in-verse, this one feels a bit facile, and some readers may wish Rose didn't drop out of the picture so completely once a new friend appears on the scene. Teachers, however, will welcome the poems' imagery and symbolism (like the fledglings nesting in, then departing from, Diana's old front door), and Diana's journey from one comfort zone to another will reassure children anticipating their own mad-sad goodbyes.--Mattson, Jennifer Copyright 2007 Booklist
