Red Velvet

While her mother undergoes treatment for stage four breast cancer, Quinn Miller and her family move to Seattle to stay at Anderson House, a special home for cancer patients and their families. At her new school, Quinn meets Annie, a girl whose mother also has cancer. The two become friends, although Annie is reluctant to talk about her mom's treatment. Quinn's family is open about everything. Quinn even attends her mom's treatments, reading to her and leaving love notes written in candy hearts. She wants to have as much time with her mom as possible. Her mom gives Quinn her journals from when she was a girl and Quinn discovers that she and her mom both loved to make, and complete, lists. One of her mom's lists was of things she wanted to do before she died. Quinn is determined to see her mother complete this list. One of the things her mother always wanted was a red velvet dress. Can Annie help her get it done before it's too late? What an amazing book! Sandra Byrd is a wonderfully gifted writer. This story hooked me from page one. I loved Quinn and her family and how they dealt with the tragedy of their mother's illness. I loved seeing Quinn struggle with right and wring in the midst of all this and the way it all worked out. I just plain loved this book. Highly recommended.

I've gone through the Secret Sister series, The Hidden Diary Series, and now the Friends for a Season series by Sandra Byrd. I've grown up reading and loving the books. Red Velvet is a beautiful novel, with a tinge of sadness cradled in a blanket of peace. It offers comfort, advice, and enjoyment. An excellent story with an excellent message--double thumbs up!

You know how some books are emotional all the way through, or some books are humorous all the way through? Well, this book has all of it. If this were the only book in the world, I'd read it over and over. It's that good. This is my very favorite of all the books Sandra Byrd has written. I can't wait for her next one.

Red Velvet is a well-written novel and part of a series that deals with a teenaged girl facing the imminent death of her cancer-ridden mother. The girl, Quinn Miller, is fourteen throughout the course of the book and while her faith is a big part of her story, author Byrd doesn't throw it in the reader's face but makes it an integral part of who the girl is and how she handles the many threads of family, friends and sorrow in her life. Quinn is the kind of girl anyone would be happy to know; warm, caring, spunky and ultimately able to do her part to make her mother's last days joyous ones. The supporting characters - a clever ten-year-old brother, a father facing the loss of his love's life, a grandmother who ends up making a young girl's dream come true - all ring true and nothing they do or say seems contrived or false. Quinn's interaction with another teen girl, a girl also dealing with a mother with cancer, makes the strength of the character quietly obvious to the reader and it will be a rare reader who reaches the end of this book without at least one moment of emotional response to this wonderful character.

Cancer is hard, especially when you are a child and your mother is the one sick. Quinn is fourteen when her mother goes to a special cancer treatment center. She and her brother, Tucker, will be living at the center for six weeks, leaving behind school, church and friends. During their stay, Quinn's mother shares her list of goals, from when she was a teenager, after she sees a similar list her daughter has written. She shares the list to demonstrate to Quinn how alike they are, but Quinn sees it as a way to show her mother how much she loves her. In trying to cross off the last few items on her mother's list, Quinn begins to worry that fulfillment of the list will mean her mother will die. But there is the threat of her mother dying with a list of things undone. Quinn is a Christian and wants to share her faith with a new friend. Annie's mother is being treated for cancer, too, but her family doesn't talk about it, or about the secret from her father's past that has recently surfaced. Quinn knows honesty will help the family, but doesn't know how to show this to Annie. Without being self righteous, Quinn shares her faith. How do you deal with the possible loss of your mother? What happens between family members when faced with this challenge? And, most importantly, how does God help answer these questions? It seems that everyone in the family has something they want to make right with Quinn's mom, while there is time. This is a good, but bittersweet, young adult story dealing with losing those you love, and showing love to those you might lose--everyone. While I was thrown by a different version of the Bible than I use, when scripture was quoted, I felt it was aptly used in the telling. Armchair Interviews says: Red Velvet would be enjoyed by young teen girls, and should help those faced with an ill family member.