BONUS: This edition contains an excerpt from Sandra Kring’s A Life of Bright Ideas. Wisconsin, 1961. Evelyn “Button” Peters is nine the summer Winnalee and her fiery-spirited older sister, Freeda, blow into her small town–and from the moment she sees them, Button knows this will be a summer unlike any other. Much to her mother’s dismay, Button is fascinated by the Malone sisters, especially … Malone sisters, especially Winnalee, a feisty scrap of a thing who carries around a shiny silver urn containing her mother’s ashes and a tome she calls “The Book of Bright Ideas.” It is here, Winnalee tells Button, that she records everything she learns: her answers to the mysteries of life. But sometimes those mysteries conceal a truth better left buried. And when a devastating secret is suddenly revealed, dividing loyalties and uprooting lives, no one–from Winnalee and her sister to Button and her family–will ever be the same.
more
The characters are all so vivid you feel like you know them. They are described so well that you know you would recognize them on the street and they remind you of somebody that you’ve known. Loved, loved, loved this book.
Winnalee Malone burst into Button’s life like a rainbow whirlwind the summer both girls were 9. By autumn, she and her presumed sister, Freeda, had moved away, but in those three short months, Winnalee and Freeda changed many lives. The book is funny for the first 3/4ths, but then turns more serious as family secrets and motives are revealed. The …
I loved the characters. You rooted for them & cried with them. Great read!
Sweet and uplifting.
Enjoyed this book so much I read others by the author. They were good too.
Great read!!!
Loved the colorful characters, and felt like I might run in to them on a road trip through a small town someday! Characters are believable and able to show the lengths with which a mother might go to protect her own child.
I enjoyed this book and the characters.
Let’s you join the family. But oh do you miss them once the story’s done.
I enjoyed reading this book of two young friends coming of age and revealing how you see things can change over time.
Loved it so much, I had to get the sequel.
Loved it!!!! Kept thinking of it afterward and how well the author showed how one person can make a difference in so many lives.
I wasn’t crazy about the way it ended. It haunted me for a few days.
A very good read. I would have given the book a 5, but I was disappointed at the ending, although it was as it should have been. I’m just a sucker for a happy ending.
Loved, loved, loved this book!!! The one thing that did bother me was the language of one of the characters but, it defined her so, it fit. I’d recommend this book if you are looking for a good read.
Entertaining with sweet and sour characters. Very sad in a way.
Great book, rich characters, great story, couldn’t put it down. However didn’t care for the ending as I felt like the author grew tired of it and wanted to wrap it up in a hurry. Disappointing because It was a story that could leave you remembering the characters and wanting more. Ending made it somewhat forgettable.
Nostalgic, the characters really came to life.
I loved it
This was a compelling read…first felt a little contrived but actually went into great depths in bringing out characters. I loved it