After their baby sister dies, Willa Jo and Little Sister are staying with their fussy aunt and bemused uncle for the summer while their mother tries to put her life back together. There is much friction in the arrangement, as Willa Jo resists her aunt's demands that everyone follow her strict regime, including never straying from the plastic runners on the carpet and never playing with the not-respectable children (read: they dare to play outside in such a way that gets their clothes dirty) across the street. And for her part, Aunt Patty can't understand why her nieces aren't grateful for all the help she's offering them and their mother. It's a mess that culminates in the sisters climbing up onto the roof early one morning to watch the sunset and then refusing to come down.

Not all middle grade books that take on the subject of death in childhood succeed, but this one does a pretty good job. It's a serious and sad topic, but it's handled fairly gently here and the young characters are given believable reactions to it. In fact, all of the characters are nicely drawn; the aunt is just the right amount of annoying without being irredeemable, the neighbor kiddos are a delight, and the uncle is the perfect laid-back foil to his uptight wife. I also like the choice to frame the entire narrative with the detail of the girls hosting an inadvertent sit-in on the roof. The only part that irks me is a small section in which the mother talks to Willa Jo about how the baby is now in heaven with the angels and will possibly get wings herself. Blech. The saving grace there is that it seems clear it's the character spouting these notions and not the author. ( )

Willa Jo and Little Sister go to live with their keeping-up-appearances Aunt Polly for a while after Baby (their little sister) dies, and their mother has trouble coping. The girls have trouble with Aunt Polly, who is always concerned about what people will think, and Polly has trouble with the girls, who are used to doing their own thing.
In the last third of the book, the girls begin to come to terms with the death of Baby, and Aunt Polly begins to soften a little.
Beautifully written ( )

This is a beautiful and sad story of two young girls who are taken from their mother, who has been neglecting care of them, to go and stay with their aunt. She is very strict and the girls do not like her very much. The little sister never speaks, and the girls try to survive in their new life as they meet other children in the neighborhood. As they spend time with these other children, they begin to deal with their past and heal. I would use this book in middle school classrooms, the content could be challenging for some students. I would use this book to talk about loss, struggle, and maintaining mental health. I would also compare this book with the play version with my students to talk about how stories are told in different media.

This book won a Newberry Honor Medal, a runner up for the Newberry Award. The Newberry Medal was the first available to picture books and is awarded to original creative work in books for children. ( )

This is a lovely novel about the effects on the family of the death of a sibling and how the other siblings cope. They are helped in doing so by moving in with their aunt, who is both the most interesting character and the object of scorn from the eldest sibling. Gentle humor and wise counsel guides the reader and the children in their healing. ( )

Summary:
Willa Joe and her sister are taken away from their mother because she is not able to care for the girls. after the death of her baby. one day Aunt patty comes for a visit and finds the house in disorder. Aunt patty takes the girls to live with her and her husband Hob until the girls mother heals from her broken heart,and is fit to care for the girls again. The girls don't like aunt patty very much because she is very strict. and does not have a mothering bone in her body. aunt patty disapproves just about every thing the girls do. the girls find some friends near by that aunt patty warns them not to play with. but these children help the girls in ways they don't even realize. in the end aunt patty softens up and the form a little special bond on the roof when mamma comes to take them back.

Personal reaction:
I didn't like this book it was dual and to long to me I started to get interested when Willa Jo started to make friends and when she explain what happened to baby. I didn't enjoy reading this book .

Classroom extension:
1. some children experience loss this would be a good book to help other children who haven't gone threw anything like this to read with the class to help them to under stand loss.

2. I can talk to the students about the way Aunt patty talked bad about the children across the road, before she even knew any thing about them and I can help the children to understand the importance of not judging a book by its caver. we can talk about things that look differently then they are. ( )