Caterpillar Summer
This week is spring break for our school district and I've been trying to get as much reading done this week as I can. Thanks to Netgalley I've got access to as many books as I'd like to check out. So this week I finally crossed Caterpillar Summer by Gillian McDunn off of my downloaded list.
In Caterpillar Summer by Gillian McDunn, Cat and her brother Henry (nicknamed "Chicken") live with their mom in San Francisco. Since their mom is always working, Cat is responsible for taking care of Chicken who has autism. The two have their summer plans derailed when their mother has to work and they can't spend the three weeks with their friends. Cat and Chicken must stay with their mom's parents whom they have never met. Their grandmother, Lily, and their grandfather, Macon, introduce them to life on their small island off the Atlantic Coast. At first Cat isn't sure about Macon and his stand-offish personality. She can see why her mother never talks about her parents. But when Cat enters a fishing contest, she bonds with Macon as he teaches her how to fish. She realizes how much she was missing these grandparents in her life and hopes that she can heal the hurt between her mom and her parents.
I thought this was such a fun middle-grade book. I loved the whimsical feel of summer that I miss from being a little kid. But I can also see myself in Cat. She is so weighed down by responsibility for her brother and her mother at a young age. She is wise beyond her years as she tries to understand what caused the rift between her family members. I also loved the internal battle Cat experiences between responsibility to her brother and her desire to just be a kid.
I am amazed by McDunn's amazing ability to address so many different themes in just one book. This book is about friendship, responsibility, love, family, first impressions, and second chances. I would recommend this for anyone looking for great realistic fiction and a heart-warming story.
I thought this was such a fun middle-grade book. I loved the whimsical feel of summer that I miss from being a little kid. But I can also see myself in Cat. She is so weighed down by responsibility for her brother and her mother at a young age. She is wise beyond her years as she tries to understand what caused the rift between her family members. I also loved the internal battle Cat experiences between responsibility to her brother and her desire to just be a kid.
I am amazed by McDunn's amazing ability to address so many different themes in just one book. This book is about friendship, responsibility, love, family, first impressions, and second chances. I would recommend this for anyone looking for great realistic fiction and a heart-warming story.
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