Surprise Lily

This cozy multigenerational saga by the author of 27 Magic Words evocatively explores themes of growing up, mental health, and finding where one fits in a family. Ten-year-old Rose Lovell adores the idyllic life she shares with Ama (her grandmother, whose name is Tulip), on the Illinois farm that has been a part of their family for five generations. Surrounded by the history and possessions of Lovell women, Rose finds comfort in the predictability of her farm life. Though her classmates tease her about Iris, her “druggie” mother who left, Rose has “everything she needed or wanted” and seems free of the bouts of depression that have long plagued her forebears. When Iris appears out of the blue on Ama’s birthday and Rose flees after overhearing a vicious argument between her mother and grandmother, Rose finds a secret—a surprise lily—that threatens to upend her careful life or require more fortitude than she realizes she has. Opening with brief chapters featuring glimpses of the Lovell women’s lives throughout the previous century, Moranville offers her contemporary Midwestern characters complex emotional backgrounds and a richly rendered setting. Ages 8–12. [em](Oct.) [/em]