Added to the List: The Great Good Summer by Liz Garton Scanlon

Yesterday I got this book in the mail.  I had read the synopsis of this on Edelweiss and put it on my fall order for my library, but didn't add it to my TBR list because it just didn't seem to click for me.

There is just something that changes when you have the physical book in your hands.

First of all, it is a really amazing cover...illustrated by Marla Frazee, one of my favorite illustrators.  I love the colors and the font.  The cover reminds me a bit of Love Ruby Lavender, one of my favorite middle grade reads.  That script font is used throughout the book and I just love how it looks!
Re-reading the synopsis made me tear up a little bit so this book got added to my TBR and moved way up to the top!

Here's the synopsis from GoodReads:

Ivy and Paul hatch a secret plan to find Ivy’s missing mom and say good-bye to the space shuttle in this evocative, heartfelt novel reminiscent of Each Little Bird that Sings and Because of Winn-Dixie. Ivy Green’s mama has gone off with a charismatic preacher called Hallelujah Dave to The Great Good Bible Church of Panhandle Florida. At least that’s where Ivy and her dad think Mama is. But since the church has no website or phone number and Mama left no forwarding address, Ivy’s not entirely sure. She does know she’s missing Mama. And she’s starting to get just a little worried about her, too. Paul Dobbs, one of Ivy’s schoolmates, is also having a crummy summer. Paul has always wanted to be an astronaut, and now that NASA’s space shuttle program has been scrapped, it looks like his dream will never get off the ground. Although Ivy and Paul are an unlikely pair, it turns out they are the perfect allies for a runaway road trip to Florida—to look for Mama, to kiss the Space Shuttle good-bye, and maybe, just maybe, regain their faith in the things in life that are most important.