Love Like Sky by Leslie C. Youngblood

Love Like Sky

by Leslie C. Youngblood

Synopsis: G-baby and her younger sister, Peaches, are still getting used to their “blended-up” family. They live with Mama and Frank out in the suburbs, and they haven’t seen their real daddy much since he married Millicent. G-baby misses her best friend back in Atlanta, and is crushed that her glamorous new stepsister, Tangie, wants nothing to do with her.

G-baby is so preoccupied with earning Tangie’s approval that she isn’t there for her own little sister when she needs her most. Peaches gets sick-really sick. Suddenly, Mama and Daddy are arguing like they did before the divorce, and even the doctors at the hospital don’t know how to help Peaches get better.

It’s up to G-baby to put things right. She knows Peaches can be strong again if she can only see that their family’s love for her really is like sky.

 

Review: 4/5 ★★★★☆

Bursting with sweetness, truth, and authenticty, Love Like Sky was a perfect middle grade read to satisfy my recent middle grade cravings!

I loved how this book took us on a journey in Georgie’s life, slowly showing us how her experiences  start to shape who she is. This book didn’t follow a super typical plot pattern—there were several conflicts to solve along the way instead of a primary conflict—but I liked the ebb and flow of the story as Georgie learns what it means to be family and to be a friend. I loved all the discussion on blended families and thought it gave great representation to kiddos with those backgrounds. I fell in love with all the characters, and found them authentic people, from the way Georgie and Nikki were so perfectly eleven years old, to the way the parents handle situations, to how Tangie acts as an older teenager. I was transported to their setting when I was within these pages, and I wanted to keep reading to be with these characters a little longer.

My only critique is that I felt the book was too long. I think it could have ended <SPOILER> (once Peaches got home from the hospital) <SPOILER> and it would have been just as powerful, if not more so. But I also get the author was setting up for the next book, and I don’t think it dropped in quality at all.

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