Bigger than a Bread Box

July 4, 2011
"Everything felt wrong, lopsided. I knew from the weird fuzzy humming inside my head," thinks 12-year-old Rebecca Shapiro as her family ruptures before her eyes. Rebecca's father has been out of work, and her mother is fed up;
after a big fight with her husband, she packs up the children and drives from Baltimore to Atlanta to visit Rebecca and Lew's grandmother. When Rebecca discovers this isn't just a quick visit (her mother has a temp job for herself lined up and a new school picked out for Rebecca), she's furious. One day while exploring her grandmother's attic, Rebecca finds a magic breadbox that will grant any wish that fits inside it: a cookie, money, pens, lip-gloss, candy, or a diamond. But Rebecca comes to understand that the box won't solve her problems (conversely, it creates some enormous ones); she has to do that on her own. Introspective and rich with delicate imagery, this coming-of-age tale shares themes with Snyder's Penny Dreadful (2010). The insightful, memorable, and complex characters that Snyder creates result in a story with the same qualities. Ages 8â12.

July 15, 2011

Twelve-year-old Rebecca realistically deals with the fallout of her parents' separation, aided (surprisingly) by a magical bread box.

Rebecca's mother, fed up with her husband's lackadaisical attitude, abruptly moves out, taking the teen and her toddler brother from their home in Baltimore to live with their grandmother in Atlanta. There, Rebecca discovers a magical bread box. Almost anything she wishes for immediately appears in it. Initially, this seems like the answer to all her problems: She can wish for attractive clothes to make herself more popular in her new school, or for money that might ease her parents' problems, or even for the perfect birthday present for her mother, although she continues to seethe at the woman's self-focus. But not surprisingly, the magic comes with a significant catch, as magic often does. The discoveries Rebecca makes about herself and her relationship with her parents are achingly authentic. While the bread box provides a nice infusion of fantasy, this tale is as much focused on Rebecca's maturing understanding of her family's problems as it is on magic. Her appealing first-person narration rings true, and the characters around her are also believably portrayed, creating a tight tale with broad appeal.

(COPYRIGHT (2011) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

September 1, 2011

Gr 4-6-Rebecca's parents have been struggling to get along. Suddenly, Mom packs up 12-year-old Rebecca and toddler Lew to drive to Atlanta to stay with her mother. Rebecca is furious and misses her friends, school, and, most of all, her dad. In the attic, she discovers a bread box, at the same time missing the gulls in Baltimore and wishing there were some in Atlanta. She looks inside to find that two birds have appeared. She soon figures out that wishes that can fit in the box magically materialize, but those that can't, such as going home or getting her parents back together, are not granted. As often happens with wishes, things go awry; all of the items she has wished for-money, an iPod, a birthday gift for her mother-belonged to someone else and she is accused of stealing. Snyder weaves in her magic without letting it take over and become the focus. Rebecca's choices are not always understandable, but her heartache is. The slightly over-the-top resolution will be both scary and satisfying to readers. This is solid fiction for the elementary crowd. It doesn't rely on one-dimensional bad guys and doesn't let readers think that the good guys are flawless.-Carol A. Edwards, Denver Public Library, CO

Copyright 2011 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

October 1, 2011
Grades 6-8 Rebecca knows her parents don't always get along, but it's been especially bad since her dad lost his job. But when her mom announces she is leaving Baltimore and taking the kids, it becomes clear that her parents may be headed for divorce. Moving to Atlanta to stay at her grandma's and entering school mid-year feels foreign. Then Rebecca finds a bread box in the attic, which adds intrigue when she realizes it will give her whatever she asks for as long as what's requested fits into it. Of course, what she most wants is her family back together, and that is beyond the box's capability. Or is it? Snyder has created a likable heroine, reminiscent of Karen in Judy Blume's It's Not the End of the World (1972), and juxtaposed an all-too-common experience and the supernatural. The settings, both Atlanta and Baltimore, are vividly drawn, and the theme of home is beautifully explored. In the end, the magical and the mundane come together to help Rebecca learn about herself without giving pat answers to a complex problem.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2011, American Library Association.)