What I Call Life

Book excerpt: I haven't even explained yet about the Knitting Lady. Who is she? How did I wind up on her doorstep? How did I meet the other girls who became my friends—no, they became more than friends—despite the fact that they drove me absolutely crazy. I need to take a giant step back, return myself to the police car and explain how I, Cal Lavender, came to be living a life that wasn't my own. A witty and moving first novel that uncovers another side of the foster-care system Cal Lavender is perfectly happy living her anonymous life, even if she does have to play mother to her own mother a whole lot more than an eleven-year-old should. But when Cal's mother has one of her "unfortunate episodes" in the middle of the public library, she is whisked off by the authorities and Cal is escorted to a seat in the back of a police car. On "just a short, temporary detour from what I call life," Cal finds herself in a group home with four other girls, watched over by a strange old woman everyone refers to as the Knitting Lady. At first Cal can think of nothing but how to get out of this nuthouse. She knows she doesn't belong there. But it turns out that all the girls, and even the Knitting Lady, may have a lot more in common than they could have imagined. A fresh new voice in middle-grade fiction—Jill Wolfson's unforgettable characters will blunder their way into readers' hearts.