Possibles - Hardcover

Nelson, Vaunda Michaeux

4.37

27 ratings by Goodreads

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0399228233 ISBN 13: 9780399228230

Publisher: Putnam Juvenile, 1995

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After the death of her father, twelve-year-old Mary "Sheppy" Shepherd struggles to cope with her grief, a lack of money, and her new job acting as a companion to a white woman with a broken leg, until she discovers new friendships and the poems her father has left behind.

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From Publishers Weekly:

Featuring characters as likable and real as those in Nelson's Mayfield Crossing, this story about a grieving African American girl is suspenseful as well as poignant. Nothing can ever be the same for 12-year-old Sheppy after her father dies of cancer. As the bills mount, everyone in her family must pitch in to make ends meet. Her mother takes on a second job, her older brother starts mowing lawns and, instead of going to summer camp, Sheppy begins "lady-sitting" for cantankerous Miss Montgomery, a wealthy young woman who has broken her leg. Sorely missing her father and lonely for her friends, Sheppy doubts her father's belief that "all things are possible." But after stumbling across some poems written by her father, she finds the strength she needs to cope with her problems. Readers will empathize with Sheppy, and their hearts will go out to other players in this moving drama: Sheppy's mother and brother, also mourning their loss; Sheppy's friend, Parker, whose mother has run off; and even Miss Montgomery, who carries a dark romantic secret. The well-developed plot includes moments of intrigue, such as Sheppy's daring mission to retrieve some important letters hidden from Miss Montgomery. An affirmation of the power of faith and love. Ages 8-12.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal:

Grade 5-7?A gentle, moving novel about loss and healing, this is the story of 12-year-old Sheppy, who is trying to cope with her beloved father's death, just weeks before her graduation from elementary school. She gets a job looking after Constance, the cranky niece of her mother's boss's friend, who is recovering from a broken leg. Predictably, Sheppy and Constance slowly become friends and help one another overcome their respective problems?Constance, 26, is bitter because her strict uncle ruined her marriage and Sheppy feels lost and alone, with no one to help her mourn properly. To make matters worse, she's afraid her older brother is in trouble with the law and a boy she scorned at school has moved and started writing to her. The narrative builds slowly and some of the subplots are nearly pure soap opera, but Sheppy is a sympathetic and affecting main character. Although the fact that her mother and brother avoid talking about the father's death seems a little forced, this is a believable portrait of a close-knit African American family, whose love for one another finally allows them to find a way back to happiness.?Cyrisse Jaffee, formerly at Newton Public Schools, MA
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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