What I Call Life

This is such an endearing story - spoken through an eleven year old girl's voice and thoughts with a refreshing honesty. The girls in this group home all display different strengths, coping methods, and vulnerabilities which are revealed one by one as the story progresses. The Knitting Lady is an insightful and patient woman, who is not presented as simply "all-knowing and wise", but also as a caring person with her own wounds and self-doubts. She does seem almost too good to be true: occasionally relaxing the rules and letting the girls learn truths on their own, going with the flow and being totally present - but, as I said, she does have her own self-doubts. I feel that the Knitting Lady was not only the girls' mentor in the story, but that she has become my mentor as well. My daughter observed me while tears ran down my face a few times when I was reading the book and asked, "Why are you crying Mom? Is it sad?" I replied, "Some parts are very sad, but the parts that make me cry are the happy ones.." This is a very touching book. The girls, the Knitting Lady, and their stories stayed with me for days after reading the story. Actually, they haven't left - I can still feel them. They make me want to be a better person. Thank you, Jill Wolfson, for giving all of us this story and for giving us the Knitting Lady.

What I Call Life is an excellent read, quirky, fast-paced, interesting dialog, with even more remarkable characters. Cal Lavender (11 years-old) is a strong protagonist trying to survive, emotionally, after being dumped in a group home for girls. Knitting Lady (the group-home-mother) and the other girls are brought to life with fascinating descriptions and realistic dialog. The story intertwines their lives with the story Knitting Lady is telling throughout the book. Teachers and Media Specialists: This novel does include a little language, so you would want to preview it before reading aloud to a class (it would still be an appropriate read-aloud). It would also be a good novel for introducing or reinforcing the reading strategies of predictions and inferences.

I loved this book. Jill Wolfson created a spunky, endearing character in Cal Lavender from the first words on the page. Readers will be drawn into the world (and personality) of this lively, teenage girl living in foster care. But Wolfson's quirky characters don't stop with Cal - short for California which in turn is short for Carolina Agnes London Indiana Florence Ohio Renee Naomi Ida Alabama - there are a whole host of fun, lovable characters to get to know, including the Knitting Lady who runs the girls group home. (Check out Wolfson's website, she loves knitting. Could she be the Knitting Lady?) No matter what the life situation of teenagers, they inevitable feel alienated from those around them. Wolfson's What I Call Life may be about a teen in foster care, but her voice expresses the needs all teens feel to fit in.

So many books for kids revolve around some gimmick -- anything from invisibility, to toys that come alive, to witchcraft. This book has none of those things. It depicts real-world girls, in a realistic situation, coping with reality as they see it. That said, this is also an extremely warm and hope-filled book. The characters - all girls - have hopes and dreams and plans for making the future a better place. They are far more than just the sum of their syndromes, in other words. A brief plot summary: The main character, Cal Lavender, aged about 13, finds herself placed in a group home after her mother suffers a breakdown. Cal must find a way to deal with this sudden change of plans. She's forced to interact with the other girls in the home and to balance her hope that she will return to her mother's care with the reality of her existing situation. But don't misconstrue. This book is *not* a dry, finger-pointing psychological exercise, nor is it a nasty-mouthed coming-of-age slugfest. Far from it. "What I Call Life" is a bright, breezy, funny, warm and humane look at how it's possible to rise above disappointments and discover the mystery in the moment. There's lots of witty -- but not snotty -- dialogue here, and an undercurrent of empathy that somehow never lapses into the cloying. This is a glorious book, and I recommend it highly, especially for girls around 10 to 14, and especially for parents to share and discuss with a child.

Written in direct-address form -- the protagonist, an 11-year-old girl is speaking to the reader -- this book is both witty and emotional about the joys and tribulations of life. Cal Lavender is a foster child because her mother has what she tells us are "episodes." Aside from being a great read, "What I Call Life" gives readers -- especially young girls -- a window into what life is life for children who bounce from home to home. That sounds depressing, but this book isn't. Cal's resiliency, love for her mother, friends and foster parents teach valuable lessons. All that, and extremely well written! My daugher, almost 10, finds this book "awesome" and "very interesting." She's hoping there's a sequel -- or two or three.