Katherine Hannigan

Oh, Ida B., you were fun to read but perhaps not everything I hoped for regarding a middle-grade book on cancer.

Ida B., the character, is awesome, she has a fondness for all things not school-related. She has named all the trees on her family's property, has a great relationship with the brook on the edge of their farm, and loves her parents. But when Ida B. must go to school, everything changes.

I wanted to read this book for two reasons; the first was I wanted to see how other writers wrote for middle-grade, and the second was I wanted to see how an author would write a middle-grade book incorporating cancer into the plot. That is where the book fell short for me.

When Ida B.'s mother is diagnosed with cancer, Ida B. turns sullen (understandable), but the vast majority of her energy (and the story) revolves around school and how because of her mother's diagnosis, Ida B. must attend traditional school rather than remain homeschooled. I wanted more "meat" regarding the cancer, regarding the child's feelings toward the cancer (not having to go to school because of her mother's cancer).

This is a good story, one not to shy away from, just don't read it with the thought you, or your child will get much, if anything, about children watching a cancer diagnosis play out. If you want a fun story about a fun character with a sprinkling of sadness, this is a wonderful option.… (más)

READING LEVEL: 5.3 AR POINTS: 5.0

What an absolutely beautiful cover and a beautifully, well-written book with such a positive lesson for young readers. Ida B. narrates the story with her humorous thoughts and emotions from the mind of a young 6 or 7 year old.

Set in Lawson Grove, Wisconsin, Ida B. and her parents live out in the country and have a small apple orchard, which is Ida B's playground. She loves and cherishes those trees and has named each one. She can hear the trees and the creek talking to her. They are truly her only friends. Now, I'm not sure if she really is intuitive or if it was meant as imaginary from a 6 or 7 year old's mind. Either way, I love it! Her father teaches her that they are only stewards of the earth and therefore, their property is not really theirs. They are to pass it forward, in better condition, to the next stewards. Ida B tells her father that the earth takes care of them in return. I'm a firm believer in this. It is actually biblical. God has a lot to say about being stewards of the earth amd the things of it. [See Genesis 2:15; Proverbs 12:10; Revelations 11:18; Genesis 1:26; Proverbs 27:18; Numbers 35:33; Psalms 24:1]

Ida B. becomes very troubled when her father decides he has to sell off a piece of their property, which contain 3 of the apple trees, to pay for her mom's cancer treatments. And she becomes even angrier when her mom is too tired, and Ida B. has to enroll in public school for the first time. She absolutely hates it and sets out to show everyone, including her own parents just how unhappy she is.

She refuses to allow any happiness in her heart and works hard at keeping a hard, closed heart. She doesn't really know who to lash out at for the changes in her life, so she chooses her schoolmate, Claire, whose family were the ones to purchase the property with her 3 apple trees, which they had cut down to build their house. Ida B. says some truly ugly and hurtful things to Claire and her brother and hollers at them to stay off her property. Nobody was going to take anything else from her.

Some days go by, enough time for Ida B to think about her actions, and she really begins to feel guilty. She begins to understand that she attacked poor Claire for all the wrongs going on in her life, and only one thing would be the right thing to do...apologize.

Ida B would show us that no matter what you have done...a simple, "I'm sorry!" will always be helpful to elleviate hard feelings. Once the apology starts, a weight is lifted off Ida B and she can sense her spirit opening up. She goes down to the remaining apple trees and aplogizes for not being able to save the others. She's able to look her father in the eyes for the first time in months since all the changes began. And when he knelt down and looked her in the eyes and asked about her, she could hear through his eyes how sorry he was without him actually saying the words, just as the apple trees whisper words to her. Now, an apology may not return things back to normal where they were before, but it did allow Ida B. the ability to move on with the changes.

NOTE: Another positive about this Scholastic book is it was printed with 100% recycled paper products.… (más)