Was anyone else a bit confused? I guess I should have read this book more quickly, but the wide cast of characters-both living and dead- doesn't help a simple-minded reader like myself. Bouncing between the two of them also didn't help me much. Repressed memories and flashbacks also confuse the heck out of me. I still got the gist of it, and I enjoyed it when I wasn't lost. The very end of the book was a great page turner. It just took a lot to get there. Reading the author's notes, she found her inspiration for this book through her late mother-in-law who was an orphan in Chicago during WWII and the stories she told about her time there. I think she has a solid base for this book and her main character Frankie (based off her MIL Fran) but adding the ghost whose POV we hear this story through (as well as her own story in bits and pieces as she comes to terms with her death) made it a bit scrambled and off the track. Heck, both their stories could be separate books altogether, but in one book it made it feel too crowded. I understand that the story of Pearl and Frankie share some elements but I was still a bit discombobulated reading this book.

Mock Printz Review: Nope, sorry, this one is dead last for me. I know she was a winner of the Printz in the past for Bone Gap, but this book just didn't stand out to me as an example of excellence for teen literature written this past year.