- Age: End of Intermediate to middle school

- The front cover grabbed my attention right away. The book is about a girl who is starting fourth grade and just lost her dog and her parents split. This can be very relevant for a lot of kids and might comfort them.

- I would have it in my classroom for my students to read. However, I would not make the class read it because it could bring up some trauma or issues for students.

First sentence: Wings and a Chair Used Books was where Flora Smallwood's mother worked three afternoons a week. Inside, it had a purple velveteen chair by the window for anyone who wanted to stay awhile, and Flora, who sometimes felt quite acutely the stress of being nine years old, and sensitive, loved this chair. Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays were her favorite day because of it.

ETA: I first read Rosetown in August 2021. I loved it then. I loved it now. I may have even loved it more the second time around. I definitely noticed more details the second time around. Still highly recommend this one!

Premise/plot: Flora Smallwood (9) lives in Rosetown, Indiana--the year, 1972. She loves vintage books and reading, and she loves hanging out with her new friend, Yury. What she doesn't love is change--at least not too much change, too quickly.

My thoughts: Rosetown is a character-driven book. Flora, our protagonist, is adjusting to being a fourth grader AND to her parents separating AND to life without her dog (Laurence). The book takes place over a school year. The focus is on family and friends.

I loved, loved, loved the WRITING. Rylant (one of my favorite authors) just has a way with words. I believed in Flora's voice from the first page. By the end of the second chapter I knew were were kindred spirits. I knew that Flora was going to end up being a good, good friend.

Here's a quote from chapter two:

What Flora noticed at once on the first day of fourth grade had been the sudden confidence all the former third graders seemed to have found, and she wondered where they had found it. Nearly all of her classmates appeared to be taller, louder, stronger, and possessed of a sureness of opinion that had been entirely absent the year before. The stumblers, the wanderers, and the floaters of third grade had suddenly, mysteriously, found their feet. They weren't afraid of school anymore. Or maybe of anything. All of this made Flora a little shy. She missed the uncertainty. Fortunately, a new and uncertain person had arrived in room 22, and with him Flora was beginning to build that precious thing called friendship. His name was Yury, which set him apart right away. His Eastern European name, combined with the burden of being the new boy, made Yury a very uncertain fourth-grade person indeed. He wore large round glasses, which made him look rather owl-like. And he was very smart, like an owl, beneath all of the new-boy uncertainty. Flora knew this right away because he was clever....but he shared his cleverness with only one person in fourth grade: Flora. He sat behind her in class, so it was easy for him to whisper to the back of her head. Yury whispered, Flora smiled, and the seeds of friendship were planted.

I highly recommend Rosetown. I loved everything about it! ( )

Ordinarily I find Cynthia Rylant's books a bit too sweet, but this one, oh, this one has such a kindness to it that I just didn't mind being in Flora's sweet life for a little while. It's not all roses, Dad and Mom aren't living together, and Flora's adjusting to that, but the nostalgic awesomeness of the bookstore (with flamboyant owner and comfy chair) and the cat and the eventual print shop (!) pretty much cover most of my favorite things. Good friendship in here, too.

Advanced reader's copy provided by Edelweiss. ( )

The story was sweet, but it unfolds slowly so that I think only determined readers will enjoy the pace. ( )

Love, love, love Cynthia Rylant! ( )