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Keywords

Excellent, Intermediate, family life, mothers and daughters, sisters, coming of age, changes, 1930s, Great Depression, Baby-Sitters Club

Document Type

Book Review

Abstract

Better to Wish follows Abby Nichols, a thoughtful oldest child living in 1930s Maine. In one-day snapshots over a decade of her life, Abby must witness her mother’s declining health, care for her younger siblings, move away from friends, watch her father banish her brother with special needs to an institution, mourn the death of a friend in an accident, and defend her friendships with children of other social classes. Although her hardships provide heartache, Abby finds joy in making new friends, crushing on her cute older neighbor, Zander—whom she marries at the end of the novel—and learning how to trust and love a family that seems broken at times.

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