This tale of family, loss and facing adversity is simply yet elegantly told. I found myself emersed in the story enjoying the flow and the craftmanship of the author. ( )

The author can write. The writing is fine. I just don't understand the point to this story. The children have been abandoned by both parents. The eldest is in high school. He works a job and goes to school and does his best to care for his younger sisters. The protagonist is the middle child, who is about 11 years old. She opens the story with how much she loves her little sister and so of course just as we grow to love the little sister also, she grows ill and dies. Sure, I think it's nice to show young ones the hard realities of life. But there is a difference between showing personal maturation during struggle against odds and just drowning the reader in depressing melodrama. This is exactly the sort of book that if I'd read as the thrown-away preteen I was, would have made me distrust all adults even more than I did. Thank goodness I was reading things like 'Where the Lilies Bloom' and Judie Angell's wonderful 'Dear Lola' instead. ( )

This novel is about three children trying to survive without any parents. They also don't want anybody to find out about it. They learn that love is that can keep them together, while everything around them is falling apart. I think this story is great and recommend this book for older students. My assignment for this book will be that the 3rd graders in my class write a letter to someone that is very important in their life. ( )