From Newbery Honor-- and National Book Award--winning author Polly Horvath comes a story of four sisters searching for home.
Fiona, Marlin, Natasha, and Charlie McCready are left on their own when their missionary parents are washed away in a tsunami. Fortunately, their great aunt Martha volunteers to have them live with her on her farm in British Columbia. But while they are traveling there, Martha dies unexpectedly, forcing Fiona, the eldest, to come up with a scheme to keep social services from separating the girls - a scheme that will only work if no one knows they are living on their own.
Fiona approaches their grouchy and indifferent neighbor Al and asks if he will pretend to be their live-in legal guardian should papers need to be signed or if anyone comes snooping around. He reluctantly agrees, under the condition that they bring him dinner every night. As weeks pass, Fiona takes on more and more adult responsibilities, while each of the younger girls finds their own special role in their atypical family. But even if things seem to be falling into place, Fiona can't help but worry that it is only a matter of time before they are caught. What she needs to do is find them a real guardian.
A 2021 Governor General’s Literary Award for Young People's Literature Nominee
An honorable mention on Quill & Quire's Books of the Year list
A 2021 Bank Street Book of the Year
"With orphan stories there is a rule, of course: By the end, children must have a real guardian. Who that will be is one of the mysteries — and ultimate satisfactions — of this funny and rewarding novel.” —Wall Street Journal
"Horvath, ever respectful of the inner lives of children, has a way of incorporating moments of sweet hilarity into an account that makes the girls’ situation seem plausible. She doesn’t stint on vocabulary or on sophisticated observations, yet her narrative arc is direct and extraordinarily satisfying, with its emphasis on competence and survival of the domestic, familial, and emotional sort." —STARRED REVIEW, Kirkus Reviews
"Orphaned children and crotchety neighbours have long been popular fodder for children’s stories. In Pine Island Home, Polly Horvath brings these two elements together in a novel that is surprisingly fun and light (considering the protagonists’ parents are swept away in a tsunami) and peculiarly appealing (due to the unexpected and comical portrait of a mean drunk anti-hero)." —STARRED REVIEW, Quill & Quire
Juvenile Fiction / Family - Siblings / Girls & Women / Social Themes - New Experience
Ages 9-12
240 pages | 5.50" x 8.25"