This book isn't just for tweens - this adult enjoyed it a great deal and I talked about it with our six-year-old, who is looking forward to reading it some time (the great-aunt dying puts her off for now!). I read this while on Cape Cod for our summer vacation - made a nice "location" read and is full of fun moments. The narrator is wonderful - one can see she has developed motherly worrying tendencies through having such an absentee mother herself. Nicely portrayed.

Aunt Louise has taken in her great niece, Stella, whose mother is unable to care for her, but she has also taken Angel, a girl of Stella’s age, as a foster child. The girls are very unlike and try to stay away from each other as much as possible until the day they unexpectedly discover Aunt Louise dead of a heart attack. Since neither girl wants to move again they decide to cooperate to cover up the situation and to pretend to outsiders that everything is fine. This is a story of developing trust and friendship with a very satisfying ending. Reviewed by BPL volunteer EE.

It's awesome. Just awesome. Pennypacker has clearly been holding out on us all these years. If this is how she begins with longer chapter book fiction then I can only imagine how she will proceed. A truly remarkable debut from the fingertips of a pro.

After her mother runs off (again), 12-year- old Stella finds herself living with her Great Aunt Louise and a foster child named Angel (who does not live up to her name) in a house beside the Linger Longer cottages on Cape Cod. Stella and Angel get along like oil and water until Aunt Louise unexpectedly dies. The girls realize that they both desperately want to avoid getting thrown back into the foster care system, so they find a way to cover up Louise’s death and run the Linger Longer vacation rentals on their own. Over the summer the girls learn the true meaning of friendship as they survive on relish and lollipops and the leftovers from the departing cottagers. They babysit the vacationing toddlers and fend off the persistent gypsy moths until the day the secret becomes too much to bear. Author of the Clementine series, this book will appeal to the older tweens. It is well-written with strong characterization and thoughtful themes which will appeal to adults as well. Reviewed by NB

Loved this book! A lovely coming of age book -- showcasing 2 girls in the foster care system. Beautifully realized. Read it.

This is a fine summer read especially for girls, aged ten and older. While there are some improbable parts in the plot line, Stella and Angel are very well developed characters. The setting,a small beach front cottage group, is especially well drawn. There is humor as well as sadness to keep readers interested and there will be plenty to chat about among readers who complete this novel.