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    Summer of the Gypsy Moths
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    Summer of the Gypsy Moths
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    Summer of the Gypsy Moths
    Audiobook6 hours

    Summer of the Gypsy Moths

    Written by Sara Pennypacker

    Narrated by Jenna Lamia

    4/5

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    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

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    About this audiobook

    From Clementine author Sara Pennypacker, this is a poignant middle-grade novel about two foster children who must find a way to work together in order to survive.

    Eleven-year-old Stella misses her (unreliable) mom, but she loves it at great-aunt Louise's house. Louise lives on Cape Cod, where Stella hopes her mom will someday come and settle down. The only problem? Angel, the foster kid Louise has taken in. The two girls live together but there's no way they'll ever be friends.

    Then Louise suddenly passes away one morning-and Stella and Angel decide not to tell anyone. Now they have to depend on each other for survival. Now they are forced to trust each other with the biggest secret ever.

    With great empathy and humor, Sara Pennypacker tells the story of two very different girls who unexpectedly become each other's true family.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPenguin Random House Audio
    Release dateJul 9, 2013
    ISBN9780804121255
    Author

    Sara Pennypacker

    Sara Pennypacker is the author of the New York Times bestselling Pax and Pax, Journey Home; the award-winning Clementine series and its spinoff series, Waylon; and the acclaimed novels Summer of the Gypsy Moths and Here in the Real World. She divides her time between Cape Cod, MA, and Florida. You can visit her online at sarapennypacker.com.

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    Reviews for Summer of the Gypsy Moths

    4/5

    92 ratings16 reviews

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    • 3/5
      After her "flighty" mother walks out on her again, Stella is sent to live on Cape Cod with her great aunt Louise. Just as she is starting to settle into her life with her great aunt, Louise unexpectedly dies. Stella and Angel, the other foster child taken in by Louise, decide their best bet is to tell no one. They bury Louise's body in the backyard garden and go about living on their own, hoping they can hide Louise's death long enough for Stella's mother or Angel's aunt can become an eligible safe guardian. I cannot stress enough how disturbing and dangerous I found this book to be. To suggest that two pre-teens are capable of independence for weeks on end is unsettling. While many children might read this book and think nothing of it or simply thank their lucky stars for their own good luck in parents, I cannot help but think of that small percent of children who will read it and think they can cope on their own. Given that the main characters are foster children, I could easily see a scenario where children in foster homes pick this book up and take away the thought that survival on their own is a better option than yet another home. Indeed, Stella and Angel do fairly well for themselves and the book has a very "all's well that ends well" feel to it. Perhaps I am overly worried for nothing, but I cannot write a review of this book without including these fears. Pennypacker is a talented writer and the book is lovely to read in terms of prose, pacing, imagery, metaphors, characterizations, setting, etc. If the intended audience were adults, I'd be a-okay with it. As it is, I have too much concern to wholeheartedly recommend it to the target group of tweens.
    • 4/5
      children's fiction; middle-grade. If a charming story can be concocted from a book that begins with the clandestine disposal of a dead body, Sara Pennypacker (of the award-winning Clementine series) is the woman to write it. Stella's "restless" mother reminds me of Jeanette Wall's mom in The Glass Castle--poor eleven year old Stella is left in the care of her great aunt Louise, along with 12-y.o. disgruntled foster child Angel. The two spend most of the summer taking care of themselves amidst a web of lies, unanticipated responsibilities, and budding friendship.
    • 5/5
      I read this in 2 days, getting up during the night to read a few chapters. The setting is Cape Cod in the summer. Reading the book made me want to be on the beach in a little cottage eating clams. The main characters are Stella and Angel who are described as oil and water concerning how they get along and their personalities. Even though this book has funny moments, the plot centers around a tragedy greatly affecting both girls who are about 12 years old.
    • 4/5
      I think this is a great book about loss and love and growing up.
    • 4/5
      A great story for girls by the author of the Clementine books.
    • 3/5
      Don't let the sweetly drawn cover fool you into thinking that this is a light and breezy novel for middle grade readers. Penny Pennypacker, the author of the hit series Clementine, takes a turn at writing about more serious themes, foster care and even death, without getting too heavy-handed or dire. Her gentle touch doesn't diminish the trials endured by Stella, who finds herself living on Cape Cod with her great-aunt Louise after her mother leaves her, nor of Angel, a street-smart and tough survivor of the foster care system who Louise takes in as well. Despite these raw themes, this book will linger with you like a slice of blueberry pie on a warm summer day. Pennypacker, herself a resident of Cape Cod, depicts the Outer Cape to a tee, with its mix of locals and summer tourists. Stella's yearning for home and belonging, combined with Angel's belief in destiny, propel this story as these two young girls weave together a story of lies and deceit in order to hold onto the one thing they have in common, a home, if only temporarily.

    • 5/5
      Stella is living in Cape Cod with her great aunt and a foster child, Angel. When Stella's aunt dies suddenly the girls decide that trying to make it on their own is better than any of the chaos they have had to live in before. Can two 12 year old girls take care of themselves and 4 small rental cottages? They are going to have to or everyone will find out there secret buried int he garden.
    • 3/5
      I thought this book was pretty good. I definitely listened from disc to disc. I was a little skeptical that they wouldn't be discovered earlier, that they were alone.
    • 5/5
      Stella loves living with Great-aunt Louise in her big old house near the water on Cape Cod for many reasons, but mostly because Louise likes routine as much as she does, something Stella appreciates since her mom is, well, kind of unreliable. So while Mom "finds herself," Stella fantasizes that someday she'll come back to the Cape and settle down. The only obstacle to her plan? Angel, the foster kid Louise has taken in. Angel couldn't be less like her name—she's tough and prickly, and the girls hardly speak to each other.But when tragedy unexpectedly strikes, Stella and Angel are forced to rely on each other to survive, and they learn that they are stronger together than they could have imagined. And over the course of the summer they discover the one thing they do have in common: dreams of finally belonging to a real family.
    • 4/5
      Stella's great aunt Louise is taking care of Stella for the summer, since her mom has had a run-in with the courts about not being a very reliable parent. While Stella's mom is finding her way, Stella enjoys the change of pace-- the novelty of a routine environment. Louise has taken in another sixth-grader as well-- Angel, whose parents have both died, and who is waiting for an aunt to come from overseas. The two girls are like oil and water, and Stella learns quickly to enjoy being where Angel isn't. This changes when Stella comes home from school one day and finds her great aunt dead-- her weak heart has finally caught up with her. At first the girls are going to call the police, but fears being moved from one foster home to another cause the girls to land on a daring plan: they just won't tell anyone. They manage to get Louise buried in the garden near her blueberry bushes, and the following weeks are spent trying to keep up the facade that Louise is alive and well as they take on her responsibilities with the guest cottages next door and become closer to her friend George. Although the premise is somewhat implausible, the storytelling is superb, and Stella's and Angel's journey toward friendship and family is lovely.
    • 4/5
      I really so enjoyed this story of two foster girls coping so well for so long after the death of the foster mother. Incredible how their ingenuity allowed them to pull things off for so long.
    • 4/5
      Floated as a potential Newbery winner for 2013, this book does not disappoint.It is yet another YA book dealing with the subject of children wise way beyond their years because of situations life has dealt them.Stella's mother is unpredictable. Parenthood is not a concept or reality her mind can comprehend. Leaving Stella alone, without supervision or food, is a common occurrence. Making empty promises that sound convincing, sooner than later prove unfounded and hurtful.When the authorities intervene, Stella is shipped to a great Aunt in Cape Cod. Trust is difficult for Stella, but gradually she grows to love the routine and stability that Aunt Louise provides.When Aunt Louise takes in a foster child whose parents have died, she and Stella are like oil and water. Angel is tough and rough and unpredictable.When Aunt Louise dies suddenly, fearing authority and the fact they will be shipped out again, they devise what they believe is a safe plan.Relying on each other and reaching out through their pain, these two very stubborn and strong willed girls learn to define family as more than biological.
    • 4/5
      A story about two opposite girls coming together under strange circumstances. Stella and Angel are completely different, but when needed, they come together. This book is filled with many entertaining moments filled with sadness and comedy. A great read!!!
    • 4/5
      I found myself enjoying this more than I thought I would, given the weird premise. Two young girls, trying (fairly successfully) to hide the fact that they are on their own for a summer. Stella is living in her great-aunt's house on Cape Cod, with Angel, a foster child. As one would expect, at first they don't get along, but then have to work together to pull off their plan. The strongest point for me was Stella's thoughtfulness -- she's a practical kid, yet musing at the same time. I loved her descriptions of the holiday motel next to their house -- it was so vivid and I could absolutely believe it was a real, wonderful place. Slightly on the downside, I was surprised that their plan wasn't more of a plan, I was hoping for more ingenious solutions to the obstacles they faced, but mostly they slid by on luck and relying on the cluelessness of other characters. Even so, while reading it on my morning commute, I was so engrossed in the story that I missed my stop, which, while annoying in the moment (especially because I had something at work that I really needed to be on time for), is always the sign of a good book for me.
    • 5/5
      Beautiful sad story about two foster girls who find themselves alone one summer. Angel's mom and dad have died and Stella's mother is unreliable. When Stella's great-aunt dies they are afraid to let anyone know and end up spending their summer caught up in lies and taking care of summer cottages on Cape Cod. If you like _Love, Aubrey_ you'll like this book. Love and family don't necessarily mean a nuclear family.
    • 4/5
      After Stella's flighty mother abandons her, Stella is sent to live on Cape Cod with Great-Aunt Louise, a stern but loving woman who is determined to do the best she can for Stella. Unfortunately (from Stella's perspective), one of the things she does is take in a foster child, Angel, so Stella will have a companion her own age. Angel and Stella have little in common and do not get along. Stella is looking forward to the end of school, when she plans to have as little to do with Angel as possible. Then, a week before school lets out, Stella comes home to find Great-Aunt Louise dead in her recliner. She knows she should call 911, but a 911 call was what landed her at Great-Aunt Louise's house in the first place, and she dreads the upheaval of being moved on to another new place. Then Angel comes home. When she learns of the situation, she is determined not to be moved to another foster home, and plans to run away. Neither girl really wants to leave . . . so, eventually, they hit upon a temporary solution: they will bury Louise in the vegetable garden and carry on as if she is still alive. Together, they help run the vacation cottages that Louise managed, run interference with concerned neighbor George, and tend to Louise's prized blueberry bushes -- with a little help from Heloise's ever-practical household hints, with which Stella is slightly obsessed. Over the course of the summer, Stella and Angel learn that, though they may not have much in common, they need each other. Together, they are stronger than either of them could be alone.So, there's one big problem with this book, and I'll bet you've already spotted it. The sheer wackiness of burying the old lady in the backyard is a weird contrast to the sweetness and innocence of the two girls -- which makes it sound like this book should either be slapstick or creepy, and it's not either of those things. They dynamic between Stella and Angel is so well-done, with the two of them arguing and making decisions and having ideas in such a natural way. Stella is truly winsome, without being too good to be true, and her longing for a stable home is palpable. So, I wanted to love this book, but all the time, in the back of my head, a little voice kept saying, but they buried the old lady in the backyard! If you can get beyond that detail, this is a great little book -- and maybe the kids who are its natural audience will have no trouble doing that. As for me, it was a bit of a stretch