Chiaroscuro in Tween Fiction, or 12-Year-Old Girls with Moxie

I'm not quite sure how I ended up reading two books nearly simultaneously about families threatened with homelessness, but there it is. I do usually have two books going at a time, one downstairs and one upstairs, and usually they are different enough that I can keep them straight. This pairing was a bit too close for comfort to start, but they differentiated themselves soon enough.

Yesterday I finished My Life in Pink & Green, by Lisa Greenwald. It sounds sweet, doesn't it? And it is. It's a good book for intermediate grades, with strong messages about empowerment. Lucy, a seventh grader, wants to save the family business, but has a hard time persuading the adults in her life that she can actually do anything.

Today I finished Almost Home, by Joan Bauer. This one is also pretty sweet, which is perfect given that the main character is named Sugar and there's an adorable puppy on the cover. Bauer usually writes about girls who've got a lot on their plates and this book is no exception -- deadbeat dad, mom in denial, and a home in foreclosure. Bauer's characters have other strong adults around them, though, and that's what helps them through the tough times. While Almost Home is also appropriate for intermediate grades, the stakes are higher. Sugar and her mom lose their home and wind up in a shelter.

Spoiler alert, both books end well. My Life in Pink & Green is Greenwald's first book and it shows. She's got talent and will learn to trust herself and her reader, but Bauer knows that you've got to have some bitter with the sweet. Either book would be a good choice for your 9-12 year-old reader.