Mrs. Fansher’s Library Media Center Blog

Addie’s life is full of “all or nothing” - either her mom is bugging her to death or leaves her to fend for herself for days on end. Addie is counting the cans and boxes in the pantry or there’s a fiesta in the kitchen of their tiny trailer. Addie is surrounded by a picture perfect family or is a 12 year old lonely and afraid, a life that is anything but normal.

Addie’s dad died when she was 3 then her mom remarried and it seemed that things would work out with Addie’s stepdad, Dwight, and two little sisters, the “littles”. “Mommers” could never seem to keep it together, though. Mommers split from Dwight and the littles were sent to live with Dwight after it was clear that Mommers wasn’t capable of taking care of the young girls.

When Addie goes to visit Dwight in his new home with his new girlfriend, Hannah, and the littles she sees how normal life could be…but how can she leave Mommers all alone? Have you ever been torn between someone you love and something else you really want? Addie shows how sometimes you have to make tough decisions to do what is best for yourself.

Chicken Boy by Frances O’Roark Dowell is the story of Tobin McCauley and his family. Tobin’s mom died and his dad is having a tough time raising Tobin and his rough brothers and sister. Tobin spends a good bit of his time with his crazy Granny and doesn’t have any friends his age until he meets Henry Otis and his brother Harrison. Henry and Harrison raise chickens and have their own business selling eggs and convince Tobin to become a business partner.

Life at Tobin’s house is lonely and one day becomes so unbearable that he suggests to his Granny that he live with her. Granny takes matters into her own hands and turns the lives of the McCauleys upsidedown. Read this sort-of sad but mostly happy book to find out how the family works things out and how the guys do in their chicken business.