Love, Aubrey (MG)

LaFleur, Suzanne. 2009. Love, Aubrey. Random House. 262 pages.

It was fun at first, playing house.
I made all my own meals. Crackers and cheese, three times a day.
I watched whatever I wanted on TV, all day.
It'd been a good three days: crackers and cheese for breakfast, TV; crackers and cheese for lunch, TV; crackers and cheese for dinner, TV, bed. Nothing to think about but TV and cheese. A perfect world.
Then I ran out of cheese.

I loved Love, Aubrey. It was such a wonderful book. Bittersweet in a way. But even in it's sadness, it was oh-so-right. (Always authentic.) I loved Aubrey. And I think you will too. Who is she? What is her story?

In a way, I think it's best for you to meet her yourself. To meet Aubrey on her own terms. Her story is revealed slowly throughout the book. And it is in the telling of her story, that the story has its power, its emotional depth.

That being said, I've got to say something to show you how wonderful this one is. When we first meet Aubrey, she's all alone. She's not playing house. And there's nothing funny about her situation. What happened to her mom? her dad? her sister? And who is Jilly? Is she really all on her own? It would seem like it. Her and her beta fish, Sammy, living all on their own. Trying to escape the notice of their neighbors, the church ladies, the authorities in town. Why is she so scared? She's watched TV. She knows that if she's discovered to be on her own, she'll be put into foster care.

But Aubrey won't be alone for long. A concerned grandmother shows up, and Aubrey--scared as she may be of change, as untrusting as she may be--is soon under her care. Can Aubrey's heart be healed, be mended? Can she learn to love again, to trust again?

© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews