Surprise Lily

August 12, 2019
This cozy multigenerational saga by the author of 27 Magic Words evocatively explores themes of growing up, mental health, and finding where one fits in a family. Ten-year-old Rose Lovell adores the idyllic life she shares with Ama (her grandmother, whose name is Tulip), on the Illinois farm that has been a part of their family for five generations. Surrounded by the history and possessions of Lovell women, Rose finds comfort in the predictability of her farm life. Though her classmates tease her about Iris, her “druggie” mother who left, Rose has “everything she needed or wanted” and seems free of the bouts of depression that have long plagued her forebears. When Iris appears out of the blue on Ama’s birthday and Rose flees after overhearing a vicious argument between her mother and grandmother, Rose finds a secret—a surprise lily—that threatens to upend her careful life or require more fortitude than she realizes she has. Opening with brief chapters featuring glimpses of the Lovell women’s lives throughout the previous century, Moranville offers her contemporary Midwestern characters complex emotional backgrounds and a richly rendered setting. Ages 8–12.

August 15, 2019
What happens when generations of family are filled with surprising secrets? Ten-year-old Rose Lovell had everything she wanted: farming with her grandmother Ama (aka Tulip) on the land in southern Illinois that had been in their family for years, a dog named Myrtle, a big farmhouse, cows, ponds, pastures, and woods. Ama is "the polestar in Rose's sky," ever since Rose's own mother, Iris, wandered out of her life, seemingly challenged by mental health issues similar to those experienced by others in earlier generations of their family. The unambiguous rhythm of farm life is comforting to Rose, and readers will be drawn to the contrast between the stability of her existence with Ama and the chaos of Iris' lifestyle. Eventually, a real-life "surprise lily" (Ama's favorite flower) enters their lives. Rose soon demonstrates that she can take on more responsibility than her own mother can or has, and she gains new insight into and empathy for the challenge of good parenting even if a few plot details strain credulity. The gradual revealing of an accurate family tree, begun as a fourth-grade school report, works as a thoughtful organizing tool for the story. Rose and her family present white. An affectionate window into Midwestern farm life and families with common threads of struggle. (Fiction. 8-12)

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September 6, 2019

Gr 4-7-The Lovells have deep roots in their Midwestern family farm, ones that are more tangled than Rose Lovell could have ever guessed. In this story about the challenges a family faces when secrets come to light, Rose struggles to find her own way through the pitfalls of decisions made in the past. Readers are taken on a journey through Rose's background via a family tree of female relatives that she creates for a school project. Every woman has lived a full life and is a whole person with the flaws to match. Moranville paints wonderfully complete and compelling characters in a richly detailed rural setting. Chapters shift among time and character; the only drawback to this format is that readers don't have time to get to know each woman before being thrust into the action that results in a thoroughly shaken family tree. The plot starts at a good pace but meanders through Rose's current experiences with her mother, highlighting her naiveté to a point that readers may find unbelievable. Readers will have to suspend their disbelief and ride out the ending of the story along with Rose, following every twist and turn. VERDICT A recommended purchase for libraries in need of more realistic fiction.-Kerri Williams, Sachem Public Library, Holbrook, NY

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