EDWARD'S EYES
by Patricia MacLachlan
Atheneum/Simon & Schuster
ISBN-10: 1416927433
ISBN-13: 9781416927433
Ages 8-12
128 pages

There’s no one like Edward --- everyone says so. He can throw a perfect knuckleball, he can get along with anyone, he knows how to make people laugh, he always seems to know the right things to say, and he even knows (before anyone else) that he will have a baby sister. Jake is often puzzled by his little brother and sometimes is even slightly jealous. Still, Edward is a joy, and Jake is proud to call Edward his brother.

From the first day Edward came home from the hospital and Jake looked into his beautiful blue eyes, he was hooked. Those eyes, Jake knew, looked at the world in a way no one else could. Edward was destined for great things.

The summers seem to blend, one day into another, filled with bike rides, baseball and evenings on the porch reading books. “Summer always smelled like heat, the ocean, and the spines of old books.” Jack and Maeve, the parents of this loving little family (Sola, Jake, Wren and Edward), choose this time to announce that yet another baby will be joining the family. Everyone is overjoyed, and Edward announces that when “she” is born, her name will be Sabine.

Albert Groom and his dog, Weezer, live close by. Albert’s father once played for the Negro Baseball League, and Albert often coaches the boys in their summer games.  Weezer plays ball right along with them and seems to think, to everyone’s amusement, that he’s an outfielder too. Albert is as much a part of the family as anyone could be, and when Edward shows he can throw one of the best knuckleballs around, Albert’s smile is full of pride.

This summer is proving to be a time of great and wonderful changes --- but not all of the changes will be easy to accept. Even quiet, peaceful lives can be totally disrupted when tragedy unexpectedly sweeps through.

EDWARD'S EYES is a wonderful book to introduce the importance of family relationships and the events that can shape them. Patricia MacLachlan, author of the Newbery Medal winner SARAH, PLAIN AND TALL, has written a charming and moving little story that will stay in your heart long after the last page is turned.

   --- Reviewed by Sally M. Tibbetts (stibbetts@maine207west.k12.il.us)

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