July 27, 2020
Readers who have grown to love Newbery Honoree Horvath’s (Everything on a Waffle) slightly quirky characters and unique situations will not be disappointed by this suspenseful story of four orphaned sisters in Borneo, who are in a pickle after their missionary parents are swept away by a tsunami. None of the girls’ “suitable” relatives are willing to take in the four children, so as a last resort, 14-year-old Fiona and her younger siblings are sent to their “peculiar” Aunt Martha, who lives in the woods of British Columbia; upon arriving, they discover that Martha has died of a heart attack but had prepared her home for their stay. Terrified that they will be separated and placed into foster care, they reside in their aunt’s cottage and bribe her grumpy, beer-guzzling neighbor Al to pretend to be their guardian if they bring him dinner—“a hot dinner”—every night. Still, practical-minded Fiona fears it is only a matter of time before social services or Aunt Martha’s suspicious attorney discovers their ruse. Presenting a delicate balance between traumas (sister Natasha getting lost in the woods) and joys (finding an unexpected cohort in the elementary school principal), Horvath’s wide array of contrasting personalities adds humor and depth to the familiar premise of orphans forced to survive on their own. Ages 9–12.