Synopsis
Twelve-year-old JJ loves three things: her great-grandma, her cat, and photography. But she’s never going to be a real photographer unless she gets better equipment. When her best friend, Kat, discovers a photo contest with the grand prize of a fancy digital camera—the kind JJ’s parents could never afford—she jumps at the chance to win it.
Things start going wrong when ditzy Aunt Lissa moves in under mysterious circumstances and JJ’s forced to share her room. Why did Lissa lose her job anyway? Kat has all sorts of theories—theories that bring more trouble than the girls can imagine.
Gram’s not doing so great, the cat’s always trying to sneak out, and Aunt Lissa’s ruining JJ’s summer. According to Gram, photography is JJ’s God-given talent, but how can that be true when everything keeps going wrong?
Review
Enjoyable YA book with a message, that we are all loved by God even if we don’t know it.
The story is enjoyable and could have been anyone’s life – JJ’s aunt comes to live with them for awhile and she has to share her room with her. I think both JJ and Lissa learned something from sharing the room, that it is about compromise. Hard thing for a teenager to learn sometimes!
JJ also learns about loss and death, but I think it made her a stronger person for it.
The author does a great job of making the reader feel like she is right there experiencing JJ’s life from the photography, to her cat and to living with her family.
Well worth reading and we give this 5 paws up!
About the Author
Susan Thogerson Maas got her first camera around age ten and has loved photography ever since. Her favorite subjects are nature scenes and wildflowers, but she also enjoys photographing family members, who sometimes find it annoying. Her dream in grade school was to write books for children, which proves that dreams can come true. When not taking pictures or writing, Susan can be found hiking, birdwatching, working in her vegetable garden, playing on the computer, and, of course, reading.
