Tumbleweed Skies
*Starred Review* In the summer of 1954, Ellie's grandma reluctantly agrees to look after 10-year-old Ellie in Saskatchewan so that her dad can take a job as a traveling salesman. Ellie's mother died on the day that Ellie was born, and Grandma blames Ellie for her death. Grandma is as mean as the evil stepmother character in a classic fairy tale, but this moving novel is far from fantasy; it is its realism that makes it so powerful. Quiet as a mouse, Ellie does her chores, but there is nothing that she can do right in Grandma's eyes, and she feels sad, lonely, and imprisoned. Many kids will recognize the sorrow and difficulty of living with a hostile, bitter relative. Ellie tries to pretend that Grandma loves her, and once or twice, Grandma does soften, but not for long. Ellie's uncle says that Grandma's grief has made her hard; her only way of dealing with loss is to shut everyone out. The girl next door, a spoiled, bossy brat, offers some levity, but true to Ellie's viewpoint, the spare first-person narrative tells a heartbreaking family story with no mushy reconciliation. There is nothing between Ellie and Grandma except “prairie dust and heat and silence,” but relief does arrive when Dad returns for Ellie at last. Grades 3-6. --Hazel Rochman