Tinfoil Sky

Sand-Eveland, Cyndi     Tinfoil Sky        

Tundra Books      2012  216p  $17.95  978-1-77049-277-6     E-BN      ms/hs       Realistic fiction

When Cecily tells her twelve-year-old daughter Mel that they will move in with Mel's grandma, Mel is delighted, picturing the perfect home she has long dreamed of.  Mel begins to dream of security, a comfortable bed, and stability. 

But it is not to be.  Instead, it's back to sleeping in the broken-down car, eating at soup kitchens, and singing on street corners for change.  They have done it before, and it seems to be working, until one day when Cecily doesn’t come back to the car.  Mel fakes it for several days until the police come and she learns that her mom was arrested for shoplifting.  Mel is assigned by the court to the custody of her grandmother, who has placed tinfoil over all the windows in fear of her neighbors.  Mel is barely tolerated, and her sanctuary becomes the library, where she is befriended by the librarian and her son.  As Mel counts the days until her mother’s release, she learns more about her extended family from the neighboring shopkeeper.  She gets a part-time job at the library and her grandmother slowly warms to her.  Will this become the home Mel has dreamed of?

Sand-Eveland has worked with homeless youth and has captured their dreams, spirit, and resilience with great authenticity.  This is a hard-hitting novel for students who share Mel’s dreams of security, home-baked cookies and loving hugs.      

E-BN               Joan Theal                  Homelessness, Family