Three Bird Summer

April 1, 2014

Gr 5-8-Twelve-year-old Adam has spent every summer in northern Minnesota at his grandmother's cabin on Three Bird Lake. This summer promises to be very different as it is the first visit since his parents' divorce. His dad, uncle, and cousins won't be joining them this year and Adam will spend the entire time with his mother and grandmother. Adam is actually looking forward to being the only kid and is a little put out to learn there is a new neighbor his age, a girl named Alice. Certain she will be just like the popular girls at his school who confuse and intimidate him, Adam is more surprised than anyone by the friendship they quickly form. When his grandmother begins to act strange, forget things, and leave mysterious notes in his room, Alice is the only person Adam can talk to about it. Together, they set out to discover the treasure alluded to in the notes. Adam is a fully developed character many readers will relate to as he works through his changing relationship with his grandmother and his friendship with Alice. The leisurely pace matches the setting of long days spent dock-sitting or canoeing, and nature is never far from Adam's mind as he watches loons, beavers, and even a pair of mink in their natural habitats. Rich in descriptive detail, readers will be able to fully visualize the characters and the lush setting of this well-written novel.-Amanda Raklovits, Champaign Public Library, IL

Copyright 2014 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

April 1, 2014
At a peaceful summertime lakeside retreat, three generations come to terms with growing up, growing old and letting go. Adam knows this summer at the lake will be a lot different than past summers. Because of his parents' recent divorce, his dad and cousins won't be with them. Just he and his mom and his grandmother will share the cabin. Adam doesn't mind spending time without other young people, but he gets worried when his grandmother displays slips of memory; she even takes to leaving notes to a man she knew as a young girl--not Adam's grandfather--in Adam's room. The mystery deepens when one of her notes mentions a treasure. With help from Alice, the girl who lives in the next-door cabin, Adam sets out to find the treasure, even as his mother makes plans to change his family's life forever. St. Antoine writes with a delicate hand and lets her keen observation rule many of her pages: "Being old had to be so strange--to know you looked ragged on the outside, but to still feel...like the fresh young person you once were." Adam and Alice are both endearing and believable teenagers. Despite an ending that borders on convenient, this spirited novel seamlessly combines endings and beginnings against the beautiful backdrop of a lake in summer. (Fiction. 9-12)

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May 1, 2014
Grades 5-7 It's a different summer for Adam at Grandma's lakeside cabin in Minnesota. With his parents divorced, he's there with just his mother and grandmother. Quite happy sitting on the dock alone, he initially resists meeting the new girl next door, but Alice and her family become unexpected allies. With his grandmother's memory problems worsening, he and Alice bond as they try to help her by solving questions about the distant past. Meanwhile, Adam's mother struggles with difficult choices about Grandma's future. This quiet story has plenty to offer, beginning with the vivid depiction of an independent, self-aware 12-year-old boy who is baffled (though occasionally intrigued) by girls. His friendship with Alice develops naturally, with the encouraging but unpressured possibility of more than friendship to come. St. Antoine depicts complex intergenerational relationships with balance and sensitivity, and the novel includes one of the more unusual treasure hunts in children's books. Readers drawn to the understated jacket art will find plenty to enjoy here.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)

July 1, 2014
Summertime for twelve-year-old Adam has always meant traveling to Grandma's rustic cabin in Minnesota. This summer is different: his parents have divorced, and Grandma is showing signs of dementia. St. Antoine's setting is remarkably palpable and lyrically described: pine trees are "spindly giants in pointy hats." And her characters are well realized, with Grandma both strong-willed and fragile and loner Adam experiencing true friendship.

(Copyright 2014 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)