Ida B...and Her Plans to Maximize Fun, Avoid Disaster, and (Possibly Save the World) by Katherine Hannigan, 246 pages

"This is what I have for lunch every single day: peanut butter on one slice of bread, milk, and an apple, preferably a McIntosh because they're tangy with a thin skin, which Daddy says resembles me at times.

'Don't you want to try something different, Ida B?' Daddy will say.

Well, by lunchtime I'm wide awake and I've already been busy doing my chores and learning and having some fun. I've got a list of things that I can't wait to do in the afternoon, my head is filled to the rim with interesting ideas and plans, and that's exactly how I want it to stay.

'There are too many things to think about in this world besides what I'm going to have for lunch, Daddy,' I say, and he looks at me like I am a true mystery." -Back Cover

This is a very sweet story about a 10-year-old girl whose near-perfect world gets turned upside down when her mother is diagnosed with cancer. Her father has to sell some of her beloved orchard to help pay the medical bills and Ida B is sent back to public school (which she hated) when her mom is too tired and sick to continue homeschooling.

I thought the author was brilliant in how she chose to write this book. It's narrated by Ida B and so you see from her point of view how the illness changes her mother and how she feels about her mother. At one point she describes the light going out of her mother's eyes and her desperately wanting it back. I think the author did a terrific job capturing the emotions of this 10-year-old girl.

Ida B. reminded me of an older version of Junie B. Jones. She acts impulsively and is full of heart and emotion. I laughed at the things she thinks and says and does, and the sadness and heartache she experiences made me cry. By the end of the book Ida B has learned about forgiveness, saying "I'm sorry" and letting go. And Ms. Washington is the type of teacher you wish every child could have.

This book deals with a heavy subject matter but there are many, many light and funny parts...and it has a happy ending! I started it with my kids last night and I think it will be a book that we discuss as we go. I think it has a lot to teach kids about how to deal with anger - that it's okay to feel sad and angry but that at some point you have to let it go.