I am, however, not especially fond of his chapter books. I only read them when they make an awards list. Sun and Spoon was a 2000 Caudill Nominee. I really hesitated to read it. The title's strange. The cover picture is too ... blah. I guess, I just love MICE!
BUT! sometimes a book is placed in your hand at the right time and right place. And to review it this week ... Well, let me tell you about my weekend. On Saturday, my two girls and I drove to Vandalia, Illinois to join my mom, her sister, her brother, my sister and her family and two of our cousins. Our task - finish cleaning out my grandmother's house so it can be sold. My grandmother died unexpectedly last October. As you can imagine, we keep finding little treasures as we meticulously dig into drawers and closets.
My sister and I tackled the linen closet together. I had forgotten that we used to play cards when I was little. My grandparents taught me all the card games they played. I had forgotten that the cards were stored in the linen closet. Imagine my surprise when I found card deck after card deck - a dozen sets if there weren't two dozen! Big, small, Uno, Skip-Bo, Pinochle ...
My grandmother's jewelry was spread out on her bed. My aunt suggested that I pick something of hers to keep. Wow! Where to begin. Something to treasure, to remember her by. As well as something that I would use and wouldn't get lost in another drawer. This was a very time-consuming task. I chose a silver, pearl and rhinestone set. I had never seen her wear it, but they looked like me. I desperately wanted to find something that I remembered her wearing ...
Sun and Spoon is about a young boy who has recently lost his grandmother. Time has passed, but he is still grieving. He decides he needs something of his grandmother's to remind him of her. He chooses a deck of cards. She taught him how to play Solitaire and their time together is fondly remembered.
Well, Spoon, which is the boys name - no kidding! - chooses to steal the deck of cards from his grandparents house instead of asking for them. What he doesn't realize is that his grandfather has been playing with the card deck himself in order comfort himself over the loss of his beloved wife. When the cards disappear, Grandpa is lost.
In the end, Spoon and his grandpa discover that they can enjoy their memories of Grandma together. In fact, it even helps ease the pain. I need to make sure this brief novel is on our "death of a grandparent" bibliography we keep at the desk. I think I need to share it with my own mother and sister. It is bittersweet that the family must get together in order to do something none of us would choose to do. Keep, sell, trash our beloved's things. But the beauty is that we can do it together and that relieves some of the burden.
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