Some books have friendships that will forever float before your eyes whenever you picture awesome relationships...Harry, Ron, and Hermione...Mary Lennox and Colin...Jo March and Laurie...I'm always going to see Minna and Crash from Under the Bottle Bridge. That friendship, as well as an amazing setting and beautiful focus on preserving "old world" traditions, make Jessica Lawson's newest story stand far above the crowd.

At first, artisans seem an odd topic for a middle grade novel, even with artisanal products being trendy. That craftsman lifestyle lends a strangeness to the plot at first. But, these crafts and their roles in the town and in families are well explained so we quickly accept them as the normal of this world.And once we can accept that normal, its a surprisingly universal story of searching for the way you will define yourself, your understanding of family and parental and societal expectations. While the particulars are a little unusual, in the end we have the story of three kids facing parallel issues.