In her latest release for a middle grade audience, Applegate guides readers on a journey sure to engender empathy and understanding as she helps them confront difficult, but no less important, truths about poverty and homelessness. Heartbreaking and hopeful, enchanting and wondrous, there is little doubt that this former winner of the Newbery Award has done it again. Crenshaw by Katherine Applegate is one such story. There are some books that remain with you long after you turn the final page, that burrow beneath your skin and nestle deeply inside your soul. It was a good time to have a friend, even if he was imaginary. He came into my life just when I needed him to. As Jackson navigates a reality increasingly defined by its turbulence and uncertainty, he will soon find that a little magic, and a little imagination, can make all the difference.Ĭrenshaw had excellent timing. And, quite possibly, the homelessness, too. Not only because Jackson is now older – how old is too old to have an imaginary friend, anyway? – but because it confirms his worst fears that history has begun to repeat itself. What was once a treasured childhood secret quickly becomes an object of concern for Jackson, however, when Crenshaw makes a sudden and unexpected reappearance in his life after a protracted absence. Just don’t tell that to Crenshaw, the invisible surfboarding-riding, bumbershoot-toting, bubblebath-loving tuxedo cat that only he can see. He’s an aspiring scientist, after all, and they rely on facts and figures, not flights of fancy and imagination. Jackson is not the sort of boy to have an imaginary friend. Thing number four: No one else on the beach seemed to see him. Which, when you think about it, is kind of not the point of surfing. Thing number three: He was holding a closed umbrella, like he was worried about getting wet. Thing number two: He was wearing a T-shirt. Thing number one: He was a surfboarding cat. I noticed several weird things about the surfboarding cat. But is an imaginary friend enough to save this family from losing everything? He has come back into Jackson’s life to help him. He’s large, he’s outspoken, and he’s imaginary. His parents, his little sister, and their dog may have to live in their minivan.

Jackson and his family have fallen on hard times. In her first novel since winning the Newbery Medal, Katherine Applegate delivers an unforgettable and magical story about family, friendship, and resilience. Source & Format Received a finished copy from the publisher for review (Thanks, Raincoast Books!), Hardcoverįind It On Goodreads

Genre & Keywords Contemporary, Realistic Fiction, Fantasy Published September 22nd, 2015 by Feiwel & Friends