Strawberry Hill

Strawberry Hill, by Mary Ann Hoberman, is a perfectly sweet and old-fashioned story that will delight fans of The Saturdays, Betsy-Tacy, and other classic favorites.

It is the Depression, so ten-year-old Allie's family has to move to a new town where her father can find work. When she hears that they will live on Strawberry Hill, Allie can hardly wait. Surely a place with such a name will make a perfect home! But the moving transition is harder than she expected and Allie spends the next year learning the true meaning of friendship and what it means to be a "best friend". The families that live on Strawberry Hill are by no means perfect and have their own troubles that are spot-lighted, but not dwelled upon.

The book is full of darling and pitch-perfect lines like when Allie is looking for a place to hide her lucky aggie, "Finally I had decided to put it under my mattress, just like 'The Princess and the Pea.' Afterward, I had lain down on my bed to see if I could feel it, but I couldn't because I wasn't a princess."

It's a treat to have such a novel from Mary Ann Hoberman, whose poetry and picture books are perennially wonderful. Thank you, for straying from your norm to give us this gift!