Carolina Crow Girl

Title: Carolina Crow Girl

Author: Valerie Hobbs

ISBN: 0-439-30880-1

Format: Chapter Book-Realistic Fiction

Pages: 138 pgs.

Review: Carolina is a sixth grade girl who lives in a school bus with her mom, Melanie, and her baby sister, Trinity. They move around a lot looking for work and following Melanie's boyfriend, red, who is also the father of Trinity. He is a fisherman so he goes where the work is. Unfortunately for Carolina, that means she moves from school to school and does not have any friends. That is until she finds a baby crow that fell from his nest. She decides to keep him until he is big enough to live on his own. They have their bus hidden in some brush on a private lot. This land is owned by a rich family whose mansion is on the land as well. Stefan, the son who is in a wheelchair, makes friends with Carolina. They spend lot of time together and when Melanie decides to move to Oregon to follow Red, Carolina decides she does not want to go. At the offering of Mrs. Crouch, Stefan's mother, she stays with them. During this time, Carolina realizes that she needs her real mother, and her mother needs her. She also decides to finally let the crow go free because that is what he needs, to be free.

This book was probably one of my favorites so far. It has so many messages that are spot on for tweens. Lessons like learning how to make your own decisions, being happy with the life that you were given, loyalty and love with your family. It also addresses issues like homelessness, physical disabilities, and being poor or different from others. The audience for this book is most likely an older tween. Some of the topics, like sexual relations, and death, are more suited for older kids. The author does a very good job of presenting Carolina's situation and how she works through her decisions which I think is very beneficial for tweens to understand. By the end of the book, you really love Carolina, Stefan, and Crow, and wish them the best in life.