Counting Back from Nine by Valerie Sherrard

I like Sherrard's writing and not just because she's a Canadian. The voice of her characters is real. I haven't read free verse in a while and I quite enjoyed how fast it was to read and how much inference was required. The story isn't really about Lauren betraying her best friend although that does happen. It is mostly Lauren dealing with the death of her father and the affair that eventually comes to light. Counting Back from Nine is a Red Maple nominee for 2014, and I'm glad I read it. There are a couple places where I really connected with what she wrote.
Here is Lauren talking about her Aunt Rita.

"Aunt Rita believes tea is some kind of magic potion.
A solution for everything.
Got a tummy-ache? Tea.
Fight with your best friend? Tea.
Flunked your algebra test? Tea.

Death in the family? Tea.
My own mom used to feel similarly about tea being a magic cure all, and I enjoyed the reminder.
I also liked,
"It is ever so much easier to spot
"first"
of something
than it is a
"last."

Not a happy story, but very real in its telling. It has a place @ our library.

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