Heart Finds

With humor and a light touch, this feel-good novel with a personal-growth trajectory captures the sharp edges of a family crisis and shifting sixth-grade social dynamics. In Abner, Okla., word-loving 11-year-old narrator Mabel and her collection-loving grandfather are “urban scavengers” for whom dumpster diving is sport. For them, “heart finds, items that take hold and stir something in our hearts,” prove the ultimate trophy. Just as her lifelong best friend Ashley gets sucked into the popular crowd, and a pattern of unkind behavior ensues, Mabel’s beloved grandfather experiences a stroke. Suddenly, Mabel must adapt to hospital routines and scary possibilities, and rely more on her sometimes judgmental single mother, a former beauty queen turned wedding planner and tablescaper who favors the perfect and the new. In this shifting whirlwind, Mabel not only finds a few kindred spirit friends but also comes to a deeper understanding of her mom’s own wounds and dreams. Berry (Hope Springs) crafts a winning, wise heroine and a heartfelt small-town story that foregrounds the message that “sometimes you don’t find what you were looking for, but just what your heart needed.” Characters read as white. Ages 8–12. Agent: Kaitlyn Johnson, Corvisiero Agency. (Nov.)