Kevin Henkes's (Sun and Spoon) story of the winter in which Alice Rice turns 10 sneaks up on readers with its emotional impact. Alice and her parents travel to Sanibel Island in Florida each February, leaving behind "cold and dreary" Wisconsin. The heroine thinks of the people she sees on these winter breaks as "part of her family." But right away, Alice knows things will be different this time. The Wishmeiers' grandchildren aren't coming, for one thing. Then their friend Helen gets snowbound in New York. Worst of all, Kate, Alice's mother's college friend, arrives with a boyfriend and his six-year-old daughter, Mallory. So much for having Kate all to herself.
Henkes's novel captures universal feelings of childhood through one child's unique experiences. As Alice counts the minutes until Kate's arrival, she decides "this kind of waiting--waiting for something good and bad tangled together--should be given its own special name." The author betrays Alice's feelings about Kate's six-year-old traveling companion through his description: "Mallory Rumbelow had a round face, round cheeks, round eyes, round knees, and a round nose. When Alice looked at her, she saw circles." Henkes drops clues to Mallory's erratic moods, which Alice pieces together later, relizing she's jumped to unfair conclusions. Alice searches her whole vacation week for the special Junonia shell. She finally finds one, only to discover that it, too, comes with complications. Through his insightful exploration of moments that feel monumental to the child experiencing them, Henkes lets his readers know they have company on this often confusing journey to growing up. --Jennifer M. Brown, children's editor, Shelf Awareness