Jubilee

Reviewed by: Jill O'Connor - North Yarmouth Academy, Yarmouth, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: February 8, 2017

Review

Judith doesn't speak. It's not that she can't, it's that her mouth and her brain don't seem to be able to work together ever since her mother abandoned her on a small island with her aunt Cora. Judith, called Jubilee by Cora, who loves her whole-heartedly and celebrates every day that she has been allowed to spend with her, instead draws and uses gestures to communicate. This is a quiet story about the ways in which we do communicate and the ways in which we let people, or don't let people, into our lives and our space. Judith believes that if her mother would only come back and see her and explain why she left her all of the pieces of her life would fall into place. But when Judith finally does come face-to-face with her mother, she realizes that she has all of the pieces and that it is up to her to accept how they fit. A gentle story with lovely characters for those readers who will stick with a story until its very end, realizing the worth of having experienced it as the last page turns.

Overall Book Score: very good