Thursday, May 24, 2012

Jake and Lily

by Jerry Spinelli
Balzer + Bray | May 8, 2012

Jake and Lily are twins. They have secrets, share a room, play together, have magic twin powers - they know when the other is hurt and can communicate without words.

The summer they turn eleven, Jake decides he wants to spend more time with the boys in their neighborhood, and amongst a group of boys there's no room for Lily. While Jake is sowing his oats and trying to figure out right from wrong, Lily is getting to know her grandfather and figuring out how to "get a life" for herself.

Told in alternating chapters in the first person by Jake and then Lily and then Jake again, the reader follows each twin's trajectory away from the other, into some scrapes, and back towards the other again. Both are confronted with choices they must figure out how to make on their own for the first time while still maintaining the special bond they share.

This is a solidly middle-grade book - nothing too upsetting and there's something to learn without being overly didactic. Twins or not will enjoy Jake and Lily's tale.

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