Mostly the Honest Truth

December 15, 2018
Jane Pengilly has a lot on her plate: a dad in rehab, her badly burned hand, and a police officer/foster mom whose home is a most unusual community.Jane, 11, figures she can handle just about anything for the 12 days it will take Pop to clear alcohol rehab--and her fourth stint in foster care. While Officer D isn't bad as foster moms go, there's no TV in the rustic cabin or anywhere else at Three Boulders, a community of 56 adults and children in the Oregon woods. The food's terrific, though Jane would still rather be longboarding with Pop. She bonds with Gertie Biggs, also 11, who tells her the boulders represent redemption, forgiveness, and community. If so, why are the property's nonagenarian owner and adult residents keeping secrets? No fan of school, Jane's intrigued by this one, which features nature study and garden maintenance, but reuniting with Pop remains her priority. Ignoring her worsening injury, assertive Jane persuades Gertie, 12-year-old Loam, and his tiny, mute, artistic 15-year-old sister, Dandy, to help her get to Pop. Some plot elements feel only just sketched-out, and the swift resolution leaves vital threads dangling. This debut's strength is its sympathetic, believable child characters--especially stubborn, likable Jane, an original who grounds and recenters the story when it threatens to strain credulity. The book adheres to the white default.Celebrating collective along with individual action, this upbeat tale portrays a hero's journey that takes a community to complete. (Fiction. 8-12)

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May 6, 2019
At the opening of Little’s first novel, 11-year-old Jane Pengilly is on her way to her fourth foster home, her burned hand hurts, and her alcoholic father is in rehab yet again—and she misses him deeply. Officer D, a police officer and her short-term foster mother, takes her to “boonieville,” also known as Three Boulders, an isolated Oregon town with strict rules (and no television) where “Redemption. Forgiveness. Community” is the motto. It’s a remote area, very different from Jane’s usual suburban placements, but what’s most upsetting is that Jane doesn’t know why she’s there, aside from waiting out her father’s latest rehab stint, and the adults hold their secrets close. She remembers her father “holding my arm and mumbling mishmash words” on the kitchen floor, then a hospital stay. While Jane makes new friends, she counts down the days until she can go home, craving a return to normalcy. The plot feels a bit thin in places, but Jane’s tough-minded attitude and convincingly portrayed stress and separation anxiety will capture readers’ attention as she gradually heals and uncovers the truth about her family. Ages 8–12.