Till the Leaves Change

by Erin Flanagan

No Synopsis Available.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0380778505
• ISBN13: 9780380778508
• Release Date: August 1996
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
• Length: 122 Pages
• Weight: 0.19 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.3" x 5.1" x 7.5"
• Age Range: 9 to 12 years
• Grade Range: Grades 4 to 7

Customer Reviews

A Summer Louise Won't Forget

Summer vacation for 13-year-old Mary Louise Monroe has been pretty typical. She's spent countless hours at the public pool with her two friends, trying to get hunky lifeguard Blaise Paradise to notice her. To her surprise, he does--right after she sneezes on him. Despite that incident, he asks her out to a Fourth of July party. How can she be so lucky? Is he honestly interested in her, or is he just using her?Louise is also debating on whether or not she should skip a grade and go right on to high school next fall. She's smart enough, plus she would be at the same school as Blaise, but she would also be leaving her best friend behind. Could her friendship with Becky survive if Louise decides to enter high school without her?Her summer dilemmas are soon trivialized, though, when her feisty 60-something grandmother (the woman Louise was named after) is brought up from Florida to live out her last days with family. She's dying from lung cancer and probably won't live out the summer. Still she's determined to be around for fall when the leaves begin to change colors. That is her last wish. But will she make it?"Till the Leaves Change" is a touching book for 8 to 12-year-olds about coping with the death of a loved one. It's only 122 pages, so most young readers shouldn't have any trouble finishing this one, especially if you can relate to Louise and her family.

A funny and touching story of a girl and her wacky grandma.

This is a truly wonderful book for young readers about a girl whose world is thrown out of whack when her cancer-stricken grandmother comes to live with her and her family. Young Louise is confused and perturbed that this woman, who has basically been a stranger to her, has been allowed to move in and upset the whole routine of their family! And to top it off, Louise's mom doesn't seem particularly thrilled with the situation, either -- in fact, she's downright ambivalent about it. It turns out the grandma was an alcoholic, and not exactly Donna Reed material! So, it's no surprise when Louise is less than enthusiastic in welcoming her grandma. It isn't long, though, before Louise and her irresistably funny Grandma become friends. Louise learns valuable lessons about what it means to be human, the power of forgiveness, and letting go of what you love. The book provides a particularly thought-provoking look at alcoholism and the deep rifts it can leave in a family, as well as an excellent example of a child facing her first major loss.