Like Pickle Juice on a Cookie

By Julie Sternberg; Illustrations by Matthew Cordell
Early reader, Ages 8-10
Amulet Books, 2011
ISBN:0810984245
additional formats: e-bokk

It’s never good when your parents announce that they have difficult news. Just ask Eleanor.

She is having the worst August ever. Her best friend Pearl is away in Oregon, and now her parents announce that her beloved Bibi can no longer be her babysitter. Bibi is moving to Florida to care for her sick father.

Losing the daily companionship of someone we love is awful, no matter how old we are. Eleanor just can’t seem to feel better, even as the weeks of summer go by. Why should she try to make new friends with the awful wild child Agnes from upstairs? And how can her parents possibly expect her to behave for her new babysitter, Natalie, who is nothing at all like Bibi? Her sadness takes all kinds of unexpected shapes: misbehaving for Natalie, little thefts, even free lemonade for the mail carrier who might bring letters from Bibi.

With humor and a keen eye, Julie Sternberg brings us a story of how a strong girl learns to let go and adapt. I love this book because it is sweet and smart about how girls grieve, all while making us laugh. And best of all, it reminds us that the people who love us never stop, even when they are far away. MM