Eat, Read, and Be Mommy

At about the same time I was starting Forget Me Not, I also started listening to Deborah Wiles’ A Long Line of Cakes. Interestingly enough, they BOTH involve daughters who long to settle into their new homes, make friends, and stay put, but whose parents are serial movers, so to speak. They both dread leaving again, and it hangs over their heads like a visible cloud of doom.

The similarities end there, however, and that was a good thing for my state of mind. Whereas Calli’s mother in Forget Me Not is an all-too-plausible product of her previous experiences and her need to be with someone, Emma Lane Cake’s parents are loving, present, and living the life of itinerant bakers (citizens of the world!); they never go to the same town twice. When they reach Halleluia, Mississippi, however, odd moments of familiarity and knowing vie with a determination not to suffer (again) the misery of uprooting herself and parting from a best friend, and Emma is torn. This time, however, Emma isn’t the only one putting down roots; her brothers become attached in a different way than they have before, and her father’s plans and actions feel suddenly contradictory. Add Ruby Lavender to the mix–not to mention a host of other characters from Wiles’ Aurora County novels–and Emma finally might have a recipe for staying put.

I really enjoyed this one, but then, I enjoy all of Wiles’ books, so what can I say? My 10-year-old has been enjoying the Aurora County novels as well, so this one’s getting passed on to her; if you have a middle elementary schooler (or older) that’s into quirky tales of small town southern life, don’t miss these!