Lowen's family has entered a lottery to buy a house for $1. It may need some repair, and the move will be hard for Lowen's siblings, but he is so excited to start a new life after the shooting death of his best friend. This book did make me cry over the goodness of the characters at the end. ( )

I loved this book. However, my loving this book doesn’t mean my students will. All my recommending won’t make them love it unless they can connect to it in some way. The same thing is true for adults. This is one of those books I think everyone, young and old can connect to. A few years ago I had a student write in his journal, “Most teachers don’t understand how hard life can be. I go to bed every night wondering if a stray bullet will come through my house and kill one of us. I go to bed every night wondering if I will still have my friends when I wake up.”

That student like so many of my other students will find many things to connect with in this book. After Lowen’s friend is shot and killed Lowen goes through a period where he can’t seem to draw his comics anymore. He is going through both guilt and grief. When his parents learn of a lottery to buy a house for a dollar in an old mill town they enter and win. There are some things they must do though. They not only have to fix up the house but they have to start a business.

While Lowen’s dad stays in Flintlock to work, his mom starts a business called Cornish Eatery. Things still are not going smooth. Like a lot of small towns, not everyone is welcoming. Some people will do anything they can to keep others from being successful. Unless people of the town realize how much they need this new life their own livelihood will disappear. This story looks at how everyone has to change to survive. It looks at learning to move on through any situation. It is all about second chances. I wish I’d had this book back when I had this student. Maybe he would have found a way through this book to deal with what he had to deal with. I whole heartedly recommend this book. ( )

I really liked how this story was tackled and not only the issues of the financial security, but also the even more personal side of things that each family was dealing with. We have the ones who moved from Hawaii to start a better life, the female couple wanting to settle their children into small town life for the community it brings, and at the center of it all, the Grover's, though they'd love to be anywhere but in the center of things. The family is making a go of it not simply to find a better life, but to allow their son, Lowen, a chance to move on away from the heartache and bad memories that haunt him. Thing about haunting thoughts...they follow you until they are dealt with and often come to a nasty head before the dust settles...hence the big move, hence the new beginning, hence the dealing with challenges that are beyond what any of them imagined because though it may be hard, it's not as hard as dealing with regrets.

In the end, it gave us a look at our own country's past (depression era as well as those tiny towns transitioning due to technology), as well as the dark parts of our hearts. We want to be giving, we want to be kind, but sometimes it's hard, especially if we feel put out...but if we try to put ourselves in the place of others before we react/respond, the world might just be a better place for it on the end. After all, we all need a friend from time to time to help shoulder the load, and there's nothing wrong with accepting a helping hand, so long as you extend the same when the time comes.


**ARC received for review
( )

For Pam W's book club

In the wake of a convenience store shooting that claimed the life of the nine-year-old neighbor boy, Lowen convinces his family to apply for one of the "dollar houses" in Millville - and their application is accepted. Lowen and his mother and older brother and sister move to Millville, while their dad stays behind to work so that the family still has an income while Lowen's mom gets her Cornish Eatery up and running.

The townspeople seem of two minds about the newcomers; some feel it isn't fair that they got their houses for a dollar, yet pity them because they think that's all they could afford. Others - a minority - recognizes that the town needs more people, especially kids, in order to keep things going. There's a tension between Millvillians and the "Dollar Kids" throughout the story, which is ultimately resolved through kindness, creativity, and technology (a crowdfunding site).

In addition to adjusting to their new home, Lowen is wrestling with guilt over Abe's death: he's the one who sent Abe to the store that day to buy candy (and buy himself some peace and quiet to draw his comics). Lowen has stopped drawing comics, except to work through his feelings about Abe; these are included in the book.

Quotes

That was the problem with being eleven: you didn't belong with the teenagers skateboarding on the paved paths by the bandstand, and you were too old to ride the merry-go-round - even though it looked fun. (88)

"The scarcity principle. It brings out competition." (Sami, 120)

It was one thing to decide when to hang out with others, another to be ignored. (132)

"Anyway, there's no such thing as heaven."
Really, how could there be? He'd looked up the requirements for heaven online, and what he'd found were all these conflicting laws....It boggled the mind. (217)

It seemed as if every project began with determination and ended in frustration. (244)

Did one person's future always have to come at the expense of someone else? (369)

Lowen thought about the year and wondered if there was anything they could have done differently. He didn't think so. Sometimes, all the determination in the world won't make things go your way. (382)

"Our community's been through some tough times," said Mr. Avery. "But I realize now that at one time or another, everyone needs help - and everyone, at one time or another, can find a way to be helpful." (391) ( )

From Amazon: “When a family buys a house in a struggling town for just one dollar, they’re hoping to start over — but have they traded one set of problems for another?
Twelve-year-old Lowen Grover, a budding comic-book artist, is still reeling from the shooting death of his friend Abe when he stumbles across an article about a former mill town giving away homes for just one dollar. It not only seems like the perfect escape from Flintlock and all of the awful memories associated with the city, but an opportunity for his mum to run her very own business. Fortunately, his family is willing to give it a try.

But is the Dollar Program too good to be true? The homes are in horrible shape, and the locals are less than welcoming. Will Millville and the dollar house be the answer to the Grovers’ troubles? Or will they find they’ve traded one set of problems for another? From the author of Small as an Elephant and Paper Things comes a heart-tugging novel about guilt and grief, family and friendship, and, above all, community.”

My thoughts:
This middle-grade book is all that the blurb promise, and more. Even though there is a moderately happy ending, there are no pat, romanticized answers to the issues that face the Grovers and the other ‘diverse’ families who are taking part in the Dollar program.

The issues of acceptance of the newcomers could also apply to how communities treat immigrants.

This was an extremely enjoyable read.

I received an advance reading copy (paperback) of this from the Library Thing Early Reviewers program. This did not affect my review or my rating. ( )