Synopsis
A novel in words and sketches. “It's only temporary,” twelve-year-old Skye McPhee writes in her sketchbook after being shipped off to her gran's in Sierre Madre, California. After all, her parents have their hands full taking care of her older brother, who's been severely injured in a car accident. So now Skye is in a new school sketching new kids and trying to stay invisible until she can return home.
But her new life starts turning out better than she hoped; she's making cool friends, and being away from her brother is actually drawing her closer to him. And then her sketchbook disappears and everything changes. Suddenly, Skye realizes that she doesn't want her life in Sierra Madre to be temporary after all. But does she have a choice?
School Library Journal
Gr 4-7
After her brother is injured in a devastating car accident, 12-year-old Skye's life is turned upside down. She is sent from Albuquerque, NM, to live with her grandmother in Sierra Madre, CA, while Scott rehabilitates at home. Skye intends to remain as invisible as possible as she starts middle school in a new city, reminding herself that the move is only temporary and that she will be back with her family and friends in a few months. Chronicling her experiences and emotions in her sketchbook/journal, Skye relies on her art as an outlet for her frustration and feelings of helplessness. Her life improves as she makes friends with other art students and as her emails with her brother become more than just part of his physical therapy, reconnecting the siblings in a relationship they hadn't had since well before the accident. Problems arise at school in the form of a few football players who tease and bully the art students. Skye's idea to get back at the jocks and the boys' subsequent revenge make up the climax of the novel. The third-person narrative is accompanied by drawings, thoughts, and lists from Skye's sketchbook. Her emotions and reactions are believable and the closeness she gradually develops with her brother is gratifying. A solid selection that incorporates themes of creative expression, friendship, and self-discovery.-Amanda Raklovits, Champaign Public Library, IL