This book surprised me -- it's about a girl whose family practices Wicca (or almost-Wicca)! The jacket copy gave no indication of this, even though it's fairly important to the plot. My daughter read this before me, and I asked her what she thought about that, and she said that it was interesting and that it surprised her, too. Anyway, I'm no expert on actual Wicca, but it seems to be presented fairly straightforwardly and the family is perfectly normal. Well, except that they're HOMELESS. Which is really what this book is about. And it gives, I think, a fairly good indication of what life is like for a real homeless family -- not some bum on the street or a bunch of street kids, but mom, dad and children. They end up living in a campground and taking the city bus in to grandma's apartment and then taking the school bus to school. And they haven't got proper clothing, or school supplies, and they can't really TELL anybody what's going on because they could end up in foster care or something. AND they're still recovering from the loss of their home and their dog in a fire.

It isn't a GREAT book or anything, but I think it's a good way for kids to find out a little more about what other kids might be experiencing.

heavy stuff well written

I loved this book. Listened to it on audio and found Ember's situation very compelling. Themes of homelessness, tolerance, family, poverty

This was a pretty good book. It reminded me a lot of Paper Things. It would be a good one for the Hot Topic unit in seventh grade!

unusual - mostly about growing up; learning about life; family and your place in it.
but also fire, forgiveness, homelessness. just a bit odd