Eggs by Jerry Spinelli

Okay, I promised to blog this one since I couldn't come to the Book Exchange.

David is nine years old and has already lost his mother; even better, he must suffer through his grandmother's attempts to make it up to him. Since his mother's death, he has decided to not make friends, to be mean to his grandmother, and to never, ever see the sunrise. But when he discovers a strange girl hiding in the leaves at an Easter egg hunt, he is intrigued, thinking her a corpse.

Primrose, 13, has problems of her own, including a barely functioning mother who sells her services as a psychic and a non-existent father whom she is determined to love above all others. Primrose is just what David needs to "come out of his shell" and David teaches Primrose the value of friendship and treasuring the family you have.

Now the cover may seem a bit contrived, but Spinelli does a good job using the egg motif throughout the book. It actually works without getting tiresome. This book would be great for tweens (and even teens) who have lost a family member recently. As always, Spinelli gives children the full range of human emotion and character and does not talk down at them.