 |
| A Green Velvet Secret / Vicki Grant Toronto: Tundra, c2023. 256 p. |
Another middle grade novel that I really enjoyed this month! The Green Velvet Secret was funny, fashionable, and it brought me to tears. What a good read.
Yardley O'Hanlon lives with her grandmother Gidge and her two rather unusual parents. They run a small theater and Gidge is the one providing financial stability to the household. Gidge and Yardley spend a lot of their time crafting and sewing and making beautiful things -- Gidge has a large wardrobe and isn't constrained by what others think. Yardley finds it hard to make friends but she's quite satisfied with her bedazzled life as it is.
However, Gidge gets ill, and wants to set up Yardley for the future. They donate a ton of her clothes to a new vintage shop in town, which happens to be run by an old student of Gidge's, and begin to volunteer there as well. Gidge is hoping for some socialization for Yardley, and new friends to take over when she's gone.
But Gidge always believed in reincarnation, so in the weeks after her death, when a glamorous woman walks into the shop, Yardley in convinced it's Gidge back again. But the truth is something even more surprising.
This book is full of clothing and making and beauty and pathos and sadness and friendship... it was a touching read, frank and honest about a lot of things for such a short, middle grade read. It's about parenting, being true to yourself, forgiveness and more. I'm so glad I picked this one up on a whim!
This sounds like a enjoyable read. Thank you for including it in your blog! My library has it and I ordered it.
ReplyDeleteI hope you'll also enjoy -- it's fun to find new reads, and every now and again I delve into the younger reader section of the library!
Delete