Joan Givner

Gr 5-7-In this adventure, events in Ellen's life move at such a dizzying pace that it's hard for readers to keep up. Ellen is asked to fill in for someone at a debating tournament, and although she has never competed before and the judge berates her for her sloppy appearance, she wins first place. As summer begins, she visits a friend in Toronto, but is quickly called home to Partridge Cove with the news that her mother, who suffered from MS, has died. Mum left a letter encouraging Ellen to find and get to know her birth mother. Although resistant at first, Ellen pursues the matter and discovers that her birth mother is Sarah, the abrasive Vancouver lawyer who judged the debate. As Ellen meets her previously unknown relatives, she is introduced to Judaism and finds her faith deepening. A subplot about a large corporation trying to build up the town's waterfront adds an environmental element, and as Sarah helps Ellen's dad fight the developer, a romantic bond blossoms. Givner portrays Ellen's anger after her mother's death and the family upheaval quite realistically, but the way that the rest of the events unfold so conveniently detracts from what could have been a powerful novel. Purchase only where the earlier books are popular.-Kim Dare, Fairfax County Public Schools, VA Copyright 2009 Reed Business Information.
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