When I first read this book, it was in the 8th grade. I hated it. All I remember was that the teacher praised a student who read a Newbery book, and I thought it would be a good idea to read one too. It was in 1984, so this would have been a recent Newbery winner, and I guess that's why I picked it. I was curious to see if my opinions of this book would change. Maybe I wasn't ready to read it in the 8th grade. That same year I didn't like To Kill a Mockingbird, but loved it in 10th grade when I was older and understood more of what was happening. Now that I have re-read the book as an adult, I can see why I didn't like it. I had a hard time being in Louise's story. She is so angry all the time. I love my sister, so it was hard to understand the jealousy and hatred that Louise had towards Caroline. I am glad that Louise got a happy ending. She was so jealous and angry throughout the book that it was hard to like her. It was an interesting slice of life to read about a small island community but hard to relate to growing up in a suburban community.

This book is being released to by Mrs. GRU, the Library Teacher at Stanford Middle School, California. If you like this book, please pass it on for others to enjoy.