Tween Tuesday: Umbrella Summer by Lisa Graff

3.5 cozy chocolate chip cookies.

Cover Love: Yes. I love the colors!

Why I Wanted to Read This:
You know what, I am not sure why I wanted to read this book. I think I read something about Lisa Graff and realized I hadn't read one of hers. I think the cover caught my eye though and off I went! Here's the synopsis from Good Reads:

Annie Richards knows there are a million things to look out for—bicycle accidents, food poisoning, chicken pox, smallpox, typhoid fever, runaway zoo animals, and poison oak. That's why being careful is so important, even if it does mean giving up some of her favorite things, like bike races with her best friend, Rebecca, and hot dogs on the Fourth of July. Everyone keeps telling Annie not to worry so much, that she's just fine. But they thought her brother, Jared, was just fine too, and Jared died.

It takes a new neighbor, who looks as plain as a box of toothpicks but has some surprising secrets of her own, to make Annie realize that her plans for being careful aren't working out as well as she had hoped. And with a lot of help from those around her—and a book about a pig, too—Annie just may find a way to close her umbrella of sadness and step back into the sunshine.

With winsome humor and a dash of small-town charm, Lisa Graff's third novel is a touching look at rising above grief and the healing power of community.

I Kept Reading Because: It was a short quick read. I wanted to see some resolution or understanding for Annie and her family.

Romance?: No.

What I Liked (& Didn't):
I liked that this book was all from Annie's point of view. It was very interesting to see what she went through being the child that was left after her older brother died.

I liked Annie's neighborhood. Everyone wanted to find some way to help her out but nobody really knew how to do it.

When I met Annie's mom she seemed really fine which was odd to me because I can't imagine how you ever get over losing a child. But there were cracks that started showing as with Annie's mom and dad that made it much more true to life.

Poor Annie. You just wanted to hug and hug her.

What it comes down to for me it this: when you have a child going through health issues that don't seem very serious, just annoying, this is not the book to read. I sobbed through the last quarter of the book. It made the book so much more real because I am not all the worried about my son's health issues and I don't think they are serious, but what if? And if you only have two children and you lose one in their youth then you've got an only child. How lonely. It makes me wish I had a third.

To Sum Up: Moving middle grade read. Perfect for the girls who want a book that will make them cry!

Copy bought from Barnes & Noble for my Nook.