“Loving someone takes a whole lot of courage.”
Ten year old Ferris is newly caffeinated and, with everything happening around her, that’s probably a good thing.
Charisse, Ferris’ beloved grandmother, is spending more time sleeping. She has recently started seeing a ghost in her bedroom.
Ferris’ sister, Pinky, is determined to become an outlaw. I’m fairly convinced she’s working on a psychopathy diagnosis and may spend some of her adulthood incarcerated. She may only be six but her precociousness isn’t limited to her reading ability.
“Out of my way, fools.”
Uncle Ted now lives in the basement. He’s painting a history of the world foot by foot.
Billy, Ferris’ best friend, plays the piano. The same song on repeat.
I love Ferris’ grandmother. Their relationship reminded me of the one I had with my Nan. I have no doubt this contributed to my spending most of the book worried about Charisse. This started to interfere with my enjoyment of the quirkiness of this family. As grandmothers are wont to do, though, she gifted me my favourite quote of the book.
“You have to insist on being yourself. Do not let the world tell you who you are. Rather, tell the world who you are.”
Kate DiCamillo has a way of making me feel like part of the family within a few pages. There’s practically no time between me meeting a character and feeling like I have a grasp of the essence of who they are.
No, I didn’t cry, but only because I thought I saw something coming and stopped reading for a few hours to prepare myself.
This book is love, loss and peanuts of repentance. You’ll encounter a bunch of Mielk words and you’ll endear yourself to Ferris if you bring some candles with you. You’ll crave pie à la mode and you’re likely to see pliers differently after this read.
“We’re going to help someone find their way home.”
Thank you so much to Walker Books for the opportunity to read this book.
Once Upon a Blurb
It’s the summer before fifth grade, and for Ferris Wilkey, it is a summer of sheer pandemonium. Her little sister, Pinky, has vowed to become an outlaw. Uncle Ted has left Aunt Shirley and, to Ferris’s mother’s chagrin, is holed up in the Wilkey basement to paint a history of the world. And Charisse, Ferris’s grandmother, has started seeing a ghost in the doorway to her room – which seems like an alarming omen given that she is feeling unwell. But the ghost is not there to usher Charisse to the Great Beyond. Rather, she has other plans – wild, impractical, illuminating plans. How can Ferris satisfy a spectre with Pinky terrorising the town, Uncle Ted sending Ferris to spy on her aunt, and her father battling an invasion of raccoons?
As Charisse likes to say, “Every good story is a love story,” and Kate DiCamillo has written one for the ages: emotionally resonant and healing, showing the twice Newbery Medallist at her most playful, universal and profound.
Schizanthus Nerd 