The Lost Flower Children

Gr 3–6—Nine-year-old Olivia and her younger sister Nellie don't want to go live with their great-aunt for the summer, but they have no choice since their mother has recently died and their father has to travel for work. Nellie makes things more difficult because she stubbornly refuses to do anything that breaks her self-proclaimed "rules," like going downstairs facing front or eating certain foods. Aunt Minty does her best, but Olivia has a full-time job placating Nellie. The sisters find an old blue teacup while digging in their aunt's overgrown garden. Then Olivia finds a book with a story about eight children at a tea party who were turned into flowers by fairies. The spell can only be broken if all the teacups and the teapot are dug up from the garden and reunited. Olivia and Nellie slowly start digging up the other teacups in the weeds and overgrown flowers of the garden and in the process begin to heal. Caitlin Davies narrates Lisle's story within a story (Philomel, 1999) with a unique voice for each character that brings out their personalities.—Teresa Wittmann, Westgate Elementary, Edmonds, WA