I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy from the Author. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
The Summer We Found the Baby
by Amy Hest
on August 4, 2020
Genres: Middle Grade Historical
Pages: 192
Format: Kindle
Goodreads
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Get Your Copy at: Amazon, Book Depository
Set during World War II, this poignant, briskly paced historical novel relays the events of one extraordinary summer from three engaging points of view.
On the morning of the dedication of the new children's library in Belle Beach, Long Island, eleven-year-old Julie Sweet and her six-year-old sister, Martha, find a baby in a basket on the library steps. At the same time, twelve-year-old Bruno Ben-Eli is on his way to the train station to catch the 9:15 train into New York City. He is on an important errand for his brother, who is a soldier overseas in World War II. But when Bruno spies Julie, the same Julie who hasn't spoken to him for sixteen days, heading away from the library with a baby in her arms, he has to follow her. Holy everything, he thinks. Julie Sweet is a kidnapper.
Of course, the truth is much more complicated than the children know in this heartwarming and beautifully textured family story by award-winning author Amy Hest. Told in three distinct voices, each with a different take on events, the novel captures the moments and emotions of a life-changing summer -- a summer in which a baby gives a family hope and brings a community together.
The Summer We Found the Baby by Amy Hest is about a strange summer for three kids.
What will Julie, Martha, and Bruno do when they find a baby?
Julie and Martha Sweet
The first two characters are sisters that are born five years apart. Julie is the eldest sister who raised her sister with their father even though she doesn’t seem like she cares about Martha. She is an interesting older sister character. Interesting in the way that she thinks everything she does is better than anyone else. Not only that, but Julie doesn’t let anybody challenge her in what she knows is right. Martha, the baby sister, is only six and is trying to do whatever her big sister is doing. She isn’t really a character I would think to put into this type of story for one of the main characters. These two sisters got a bit on my nerves as they both didn’t seem like good characters. Like they weren’t built enough.
Bruno Ben-Eli
Bruno is the baby of the Ben-Eli family and is a year older than Julie. He is on a mission for his brother, even though he doesn’t know what for. Bruno is another character like the first two that got on my nerves a bit and that it seemed like he wasn’t thought through as well. I wanted to like these characters, but I’m just unsure of them. Like Julie, Bruno thinks he knows everything and even more so because he’s a year older. Also, I was not too fond of this character either.
3 Stars
The Summer We Found the Baby by Amy Hest seemed like a good idea, but it wasn’t executed properly. The story bounced all over the place during the summer, and then we end up with characters that aren’t really thought through enough. I wanted to like this book, but it just wasn’t for me. Plus, the way that the author formatted the book made me think that they were always yelling at each other, which makes no sense. If it were written differently and maybe thought through better, with developed characters, then my rating would be different from three stars.
Thank you for dropping by! I hope you enjoyed this review of The Summer We Found the Baby by Amy Hest.
Until the next time,
Happy Reading!
About Amy Hest
New York Times bestselling author Amy Hest has written many beloved books for young readers, including Remembering Mrs. Rossi, Letters to Leo, and the Katie Roberts novels. She is also the author of many picture books, including Kiss Good Night, When Jessie Came Across the Sea, and On the Night of the Shooting Star. Amy lives in New York City.
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