Marvelous Middle Grade Monday-THE WHOLE TRUTH-Kit Pearson

I read this in one sitting. Loved the characters, the setting (B.C.'s west coast, small island). And with each page turn I wanted to know what the whole truth was. Polly is ten and off with her sister, Maude to live with a grandma they barely know, to meet more family they've never met. And they are carrying a huge secret with them. It's so huge it's making it hard for Polly to eat or even to speak. There's no room in her for anything else. Not only that, Maud will be going off to boarding school in Victoria (even seems excited about it which doesn't make Polly feel much better), leaving Polly to face a new school, new kids, all by herself. I'm not sure I'd be eating or talking much either. Bit by bit Polly starts to open up, but she always holds tight to the terrible secret they carry with them. The one thing you learn, though, is they are not the only ones who are not telling the whole truth. Set during the 1930's in depression era Canada, kids will be transported back in time, but still feel the universality of trying to fit in and figure yourself out as you find your own way.

It is 1932. Polly, almost ten, and her older sister, Maud, travel by train and boat from Winnipeg to an island between Vancouver and Victoria. There they will live with their grandmother, who will be their guardian. Maud will go to boarding school in Victoria, while Polly will live with her grandmother and attend the small school on the island.

Their grandmother and other family members welcome the girls warmly; new-school jitters give way to new friendships and even a new puppy; and slowly Polly feels that she is becoming part of a larger family she never knew until now.

But Polly and Maud have a dramatic secret, and they have promised each other never to tell anyone. A surprise arrival on th and e island, however, threatens Polly’s newfound happiness and tests the bonds of family love. Can Polly keep the secret and her new life on the island? (Amazon.ca)

Happy Marvelous Middle Grade Monday, all. And Happy Thanksgiving to all us Canadians, too!

For more wonderful that is Middle Grade Monday check out Shannon Whitney Messenger and then go check out these fine folk:

Joanne Fritz-My Brain on Books
Shannon Whitney Messenger-Ramblings of a Wannabe Scribe 
Shannon O'Donnell-Book Dreaming
Myrna Foster-The Night Writer
Sherrie Petersen- Write About Now 
Natalie Aguirre-Literary Rambles
Brooke Favero-Somewhere in the Middle
Ally Beecher- Kid Lit Frenzy
Barbara Watson-Novel and Nouveau
Anita Laydon Miller-her middle grade blog
Michael G-G-Middle Grade Mafioso
Jessica Lei-her blog  
Pam Torres-So I'm Fifty


Cheers!