Ship of Dolls

Eleven-year-old Lexie must win a trip to the San Francisco send-off for Friendship Dolls bound for Japan: her mother, who has sent Lexie to live with her grandparents, will be singing at the farewell ceremony. After a classmate swipes Lexie's contest-entry letter--and wins--the girls navigate a friendship. Fully realized characters and a historical backdrop make for an involving story.

The true story of how American children sent more than twelve thousand dolls to Japan in 1927--to promote friendship, trust, and future peace--serves as backdrop to this well-crafted, involving story. Eleven-year-old Lexie must win the letter-writing contest that will earn her a trip to San Francisco to attend the dolls' farewell ceremony. She's been sent to live with her paternal grandparents in Oregon because her singer mother's new sax-playing husband doesn't want kids around, and she's desperate to see her mother, who will be in San Francisco performing at the ceremony. Lexie works hard on her letter, only to have it swiped by wealthy classmate Louise--who wins the trip. Louise's need to please her mother matches Lexie's, and the girls eventually earn each other's trust and friendship. Grandma and Lexie do the same, as it becomes clear that Lexie has inherited many qualities from both sides of her family: she has Grandma's nerves of steel and Mama's ability to make the best of things. Parenteau gives Grandma depth: she's stern and strict but highly perceptive and willing to change. Even Mama is more than a self-centered, happy-go-lucky flapper--she's merely reacting to her own rule-bound childhood and does truly love her daughter. The novel ends with a conflicted Lexie pressed to decide which relative she most trusts; by then, readers will have faith that their new friend will make a wise choice. jennifer m. brabander