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Summer Song
Reviews:
From The Publisher:
As Etta May struggles to face her grandfather's terminal illness, she tries to balance her anger toward and constant longing for her mother, who abandoned Etta May when she was a baby but has suddenly reappeared. "This sprightly novel is concerned with earnest moral matters, yet the writer wields an attractively natural, graceful narrative hand." -- Booklist
From Molly McQuade - BookList:
This sprightly novel is concerned with earnest moral matters, yet the writer wields an attractively natural, graceful narrative hand. Etta May, abandoned as an infant by her unwed mother, was brought up by Manny and Gent, her grandparents. But Manny has recently died, leaving the girl with Gent, an irascibly lovable rose gardener. He's sick with emphysema and won't (usually) admit it. Masters' realistic story brings Etta May back into touch with her mother and forces them both to help Gent meet his death, while also taking the measure of several other important characters. The plot moves along effortlessly, studded with convincing bits of dialogue. Another reason for Masters' success: her credibly worried, fragile, hopeful, harum-scarum girl narrator. Etta May stays true to her own voice, never picturesque but full of energy: "I got this skirt. It's navy polyester and it sucks up all the lint and dust within a six-block radius." The novel grapples constructively with painful reality.
From Publisher's Weekly:
Etta May, a self-proclaimed magnet for disaster, carries more than her share of burdens. Soon after the death of her beloved grandmother, her grandfather Gent grows too weak from emphysema to tend his cherished roses or take care of the run-down trailer where he and Etta May live. When Etta May realizes that Gent's disease is terminal, she resolves to carry out his last wish: to let him die in his own bed. She wages a lonely battle against doctors and, even more painfully, the absentee mother she has hitherto seen "all of nine times." In the tradition of Where the Lilies Bloom and A Day No Pigs Would Die, this story about love and compromise traces the struggles of a determined child taking on adult responsibilities. Scenes depicting the clash of wills among three generations are balanced with portrayals of familial tenderness and compassion. Masters's quick dialogue adds color, while her poignant narrative evokes the frustration, fear and final acceptance experienced in the face of a deep loss. Ages 8-12. (Sept.)
From The Horn Book, Inc.:
Abandoned by her mother and raised by her grandparents, Etta May has now become caregiver to her aging, widowed grandfather. When her mother unexpectedly comes to help out -- only to leave again -- Etta May feels doubly deserted. In the bittersweet story, the young protagonist struggles with her feelings toward her mother and gradually comes to understand that some of life's circumstances are beyond her control.
From School Library Journal:
Gr 5-7-Etta May has lived with her grandparents in a trailer park her whole life. She has only seen her mother, who lives and works in the city nearby, a few times. But after the girl's grandmother dies, her grandfather Gent's health deteriorates and suddenly her mother is back in her life. Now the child must cope with the elderly man's illness and with her conflicting feelings about her mother's return. In addition to looking after Gent, she's in the midst of encouraging her best friend, the shy Quentin, to try out for a musical talent show. Readers will admire Etta May's resilience and independence, and sympathize with her confusion and longings. Her close relationship with her grandfather is sensitively portrayed and adds depth to the story. Although the writing is occasionally flat and the other trailer park characters sometimes seem like caricatures, this is an accessible story with a likable heroine dealing with a host of difficult subjects.-Cyrisse Jaffee, formerly at Newton Public Schools, MA.
From Deborah Stevenson - Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books:
This is a sweet, if completely predictable, story: Gent is a typical loving but crotchety grandfather, . . . but Etta May's determined love for and loyalty to her grandfather give the story strength, and Etta May's friend Quentin provides an unrealistic but upbeat subplot as his musical talent is finally recognized in a radio contest. Masters makes Etta May's downhome narration warm and credible, and her struggle with a difficult time will elicit empathy from many readers.
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