Book description
This critically acclaimed winner of the Newbery Medal joins the Scholastic Gold line, which features award-winning and beloved novels. Includes exclusive bonus content.
Ever since May, Summer's aunt and good-as-a-mother for the past six years, died in the garden among her pole beans and carrots, life for Summer and her…Why read it?
2 authors picked Missing May as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?
I would read anything written by the talented Cynthia Rylant. Her books for young people introduce moving stories and unforgettable characters.
Missing May is one of those stories featuring young Summer who loses her mom and then is passed around to different aunts and uncles who don’t want to care for her. Finally, elderly Aunt May and Uncle Ob meet her and take her to live with them in West Virginia.
I especially love Rylant’s portrayal of the humble life of May, Ob, and Summer in a rusty old trailer that feels like a palace because it’s so full of…
From Linda's list on hard family circumstances for middle-grade readers.
My all-time favorite middle-grade novel about grief. The recipient of the 1993 Newbery Medal, Missing May holds up for today’s readers. No matter how many times I read this beautiful little book, I sob at certain points in the story. Rylant takes the reader through every stage of grief, and the emotions are relatable to those of all ages. Whirligigs, gardens, and grief...they blend together gorgeously in this sparse and poetic novel. As someone who’s always looking for a sign after someone I love dies, I related with Rylant’s protagonist Summer and her desperate search for a sign from May.
From Linda's list on children’s books about grief and not facing it alone.
If you love Missing May...
Lily Starling and the Voyage of the Salamander
When seventeen-year-old Lily Starling is found in San Francisco with no memory of who she is, her search for answers pulls her into a future she never imagined. Taken aboard the Union starship Salamander, she becomes entangled in a mission that will test the limits of identity, loyalty, and courage.
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