Lucy, protagonist of Kathleen Gros' Carousel Summer, thinks that her summer is going to be the worst. Her BFF, Katia, is away at camp having all kinds of adventures. She, meanwhile, is stuck spending most of her time doing the cooking and cleaning for her family. And her father is ultra critical because she isn't the dress wearing girly girl he thinks she should be.
Then a ray of hope enters the picture. The town of Milforth has brought in an artist to revive a special historic carousel 🎠 for the town's 150th anniversary. The artist has a daughter Lucy's age, Anais, who prefers Lucy to the popular girls. She's someone who Lucy can be her authentic self with, someone who just may be more than a friend...
...which might be quite problematic for Lucy's controlling father who had a fit when she just cut her hair short.
But the summer conflict isn't restricted to Lucy's home. Milforth has fallen on hard times. A company, Blank Slate Futures, wants to come in and redevelop properties. Some business owners including Lucy's father see this as the town's fiscal salvation. However, a lot of community members have a much better understanding of the evils of gentrification.
Carousel Summer introduces young readers to some pretty important social justice issues within the context of a highly engaging narrative.
On a purrrsonal note, I am having a super joyful weekend. Yesterday Eugene and I went for a wonderful road trip. We were in yard sale heaven. Among other things he got me 6 squishies (picture I posted yesterday). He got subs which meant I didn't have to cook. Today we went on another lovely road trip. We saw a whole lot of geese pecking at the ground. And of course evenings spent swimming and reading can't be beat.
BTW August 17th is Black Cat Appreciation Day. I have a special treat to show precious Tobago how much Gene and I appreciate her.
A great big shout out goes out to Eugene and to black cats and the people who love them.
Jules Hathaway
Sent from my U.S.Cellular© Smartphone
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