Beverly Tapinski has run away from home plenty of times, but that was when she was just a kid. By now, she figures, it’s not running away. It’s leaving. Determined to make it on her own, Beverly finds a job and a place to live and tries to forget about her dog, Buddy, now buried underneath the orange trees back home; her friend Raymie, whom she left without a word; and her mom, Rhonda, who has never cared about anyone but herself. Beverly doesn’t want to depend on anyone, and she definitely doesn’t want anyone to depend on her. But despite her best efforts, she can’t help forming connections with the people around her — and gradually, she learns to see herself through their eyes. In a touching, funny, and fearless conclusion to her sequence of novels about the beloved Three Rancheros, DiCamillo tells the story of a character who will break your heart and put it back together again.
Beverly put her foot down on the gas. They went faster still.
This was what Beverly wanted — what she always wanted. To get away. To get away as fast as she could. To stay away
DiCamillo has delivered another poignant story of a young woman searching for her place in the world. Here she focuses on Beverly Tapinski, one of the three friends from Raymie Nightingale. We pick up with Beverly shortly after she has buried her beloved dog and right after Louisiana has left. Beverly decides to leave, too. She has nothing keeping her at home now that Buddy is dead, so she bums a ride with a distant cousin to a new town where she gets a job and moves in with an old lady who needs some help. Even though she doesn’t want to like, or even love people, she finds they grow on her.
The whole trio of books about this group of friends should be read together and by every 12-13 year old. DiCamillo handles friendship, heartbreak, disappointment, and all the emotions that come tumbling down at that age and does it in a gentle, reassuring way. Well done.
Publication Date: September 24, 2019
Published By: Candlewick Press
Thanks to Netgalley for the review copy
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