about the book
Eleven-year-old Stella likes living with her cantankerous Great Aunt Louise. She likes her aunt’s fussy, orderly ways. She never got that from her flaky mom. Heck, she isn’t even sure where her mother is…again. She just took off, so Social Services sent Stella to Aunt Louise.
Aunt Louise’s Cape Cod house is right next door to the Linger Longer Cottage Colony, where she is the caretaker. With Stella around, she’ll have a little help, and she takes in another foster kid, Angel, to keep Stella company. But the world- weary Angel is a prickly kid, and she has no intentions of becoming buddy-buddies with workaholic Stella. The two girls are like oil and water. They don’t mix at all.
Then one morning Great Aunt Louise just ups and dies!
Neither Stella nor Angel want to go back into the system, so they come up with an oddball scheme: bury Aunt Louise in the garden, take over the caretaker duties, and keep the renters’ tips for themselves. Angel hopes to make enough to get to her New York City. Stella hopes her mom inherits Louise’s place, settles down, and falls in love with Cape Cod—like Stella has. It could happen!
But digging a grave is hard work, especially when you can’t let anyone know what you are doing. Living on leftovers from the cottage guests is kinda’ gross! And the caretaker duties—they didn’t have a clue how difficult that was. Plus Stella wants to keep Aunt Louise’s beloved blueberry bushes going. How do you keep the gypsy moths away?
All the girls need is time before Social Services finds out. Somehow, they have to work together if they have any chance at all—which is pretty hard since they are still “oil and water!”
about the author
Sara Pennypacker was born in a small Massachusetts town. She was very shy and was way too tall, she loved books and art, and she was obsessed with baseball. Her childhood dream was to play shortstop for the Boston Red Sox.
As an adult, she began painting with watercolors and opened her own gallery. After she had children, she spent a lot of time in libraries looking for books to read to them, and she realized that she wanted to write children’s books most of all. She feels that kids are the best audience, because they fall in love with the stories and the characters of the books they read. She’s written seventeen children’s books so far!
Sara has two grown children. She says that they were “nutballs” when they were young, and she modeled Clementine after them.
Sara lives on Cape Cod in Massachusetts and in Florida. When she isn’t writing, she likes to read, swim, and take walks.
Source:
Author website
Also by Sara Pennypacker:
Clementine and the Spring Trip (Clementine, Book 6). Hyperion Press. 2013.
Clementine and the Family Meeting (Clementine, Book 5). Hyperion Press. 2011.
Clementine, Friend of the Week (Clementine, Book 4). Hyperion Press. 2010.
Sparrow Girl. Hyperion Press. 2009.
Clementine’s Letter (Clementine, Book 3). Hyperion Press. 2008.
Talented Clementine (Clementine, Book 2). Hyperion Press. 2007.
Clementine. Hyperion Press. 2006.
Stuart Goes to School. Orchard Books. 2003.
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