LUCY WAS THERE...

Noted author Van Leeuwen (“Wait for Me!” Said Maggie McGee, 2001, etc.) offers a tender, poignant story about a girl’s finally coming to grips with a terrible loss. Morgan is helped in this effort through the offices of a very special dog, Lucy, who comes to her one night as if in a dream and reappears whenever she’s needed. Readers soon learn that the previous fall, Morgan’s mother and five-year-old brother boarded a plane and never returned home and that Morgan, her father, and her teenage sister have been suffering and trying to cope ever since. Time, Lucy’s comforting presence and ability to understand Morgan’s hurt, new friends, and a first crush all help Morgan grow and deal with painful realities. Near the end, readers are told the truth: Morgan’s mom didn’t simply walk out on her family with her small son in tow and never look back. Actually, she and the child perished in the crash of their plane and Morgan’s been in denial for months. As for Lucy, she’s an imaginary figure Morgan has conjured to help her deal with the crushing loss. The story’s a sad but life-affirming one, and Morgan’s a realistically drawn preteen with whom readers will identify. (Fiction. 9-12)