Summer of the Gypsy Moths / Sara Pennypacker / 275 pages

I could not stop reading this wonderful book.  It is the story of two 12 year old girls who begin as oil and water and become best of friends one summer in Cape Cod.  Pennypacker fills the story with humor, courage, poignancy, longing, darkness and light.  Stella, a devotee of Heloise Hints, longs for order, connections and continuity in her life as she struggles with an irresponsible, immature mother who abandons her multiple times.  Angel whose mother was killed in an accident and whose father drowns after giving away his safety suit to someone else, struggles with anger, destiny or fado, and mistrust.  Sounds depressing but it's not; it's totally uplifting.  The girls manage to survive for four weeks on their own (after burying Great Aunt Louise in the garden), taking care of a cottage colony near the beach, and learn to depend on each other.  Highly recommended....it's a Newbery contender.  Great for readers in grades 4-6.