The Great Upending is a beautiful book about adventure. On top of that, the story tells one of a family that loves each other through even the hardest of circumstances. I will be purchasing this book for my book club on characterization. The characters all show growth through tough circumstances.

I absolutely loved this book. I could somewhat relate to Sarah and Hawk living in a rural area on a farm (I grew up in small-town Pennsylvania surrounded by farms). The writing was great. The author painted a nice picture of the setting as well as great character development. I loved the relationship between the siblings. You could feel the camaraderie and the love. The inter character added an element of mystery and the drought added drama. I had never heard of Marfan syndrome so it was interesting to see a character with it and learn a little about it. There is a lot left unknown at the end of the book but you are let with a hopeful feeling. I'd hand his to children looking for slight mystery and drama, with great characters.

This was a story about a struggling farm in PA, where one of the children has Marfan's syndrome, a disease that has, among other things, left her with an enlarged aorta that could burst at any moment. She and her younger brother are best friends and home schooled on their farm, in part because her condition prevents her from an active and normal life. From the beginning you can tell that the drought is threatening to destroy their farm, but her condition also puts a drain on their family. Into all of this comes a mysterious man "The Mister" who rents a little silo apartment and just wants to be left alone. Although this book is not at all To Kill a Mockingbird, the way Sara and Hawk spy on "The Mister" to try and find out what he's up to reminds me a little bit of Jem and Scout as they made up stories about Boo Radley. I absolutely loved Hawk's fierce loyalty to and protective instincts towards his sister, and his love of Treasure Island and of reading in general were wonderful to read about. Hearing him talk about stories made them come alive. I loved how the author portrayed Sara's Marfan's as just a small part of who she was (other than the very real impact it had on her life). Her intelligence, love of growing things, and her museum of seeds were wonderful to read about, and it really brought her alive for me.

The only thing that I had trouble with was that the style of writing took getting used to. I mean there were some really beautifully-written passages, but the story is told from the point-of-view of Sara and are told in short sentences that describes what she is hearing and sensing. The whole story is told that way with her recounting conversations that she either hears or is part of. I don't remember my grammar but the tense of the story feels like I'm reading one of those "choose your own adventure" stories. "I creak up. Put my feet on the floor. Crouch so my hair won't snag on the low rafters, so my head won't scrape." After finishing the story, I think I can see what the author was trying to do (put myself in her shoes), but it definitely took me time to get used to it. Also, it's apparent to me that her vision is not that great and that she often imagines what she sees based on what she hears and feels. But throughout the book, I can't quite figure out if she really is visually impaired in a big way or if she really just sees shadows. By the end (no spoilers), I'm really left guessing and that part just confused me.

Hmm...now that I'm thinking about it, I'm wondering if the narrative voice was deliberately chosen by the author so that I WOULD put myself in Sara's shoes. Which, thinking about the ending, is kind of a neat little circle (again, no spoilers). Perhaps. Either way, I'm really glad I picked up this book. It was definitely worth reading!

Special thanks to #BethKephart, #SimonandSchusterChildrensPublishing, and #NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I received an arc of this title from NetGalley for an honest review. This book had a lot of elements to it. Homeschooling, farms, sickness, sickness and more. I enjoyed the kids trying to figure out the mystery on their own of who the renter is but other parts lagged for me.

The Great Upending
by Beth Kephart
Simon and Schuster Children's Publishing

Atheneum/Caitlyn Dlouhy Books
Children's Fiction


Pub Date 01 Apr 2020


I am reviewing a copy of The Great Upending through Simon and Schuster Children's Publishing/Atheneum/Caitlyn Dlouhy Books:


Twelve year old Sara has Marafan syndrome, and when she was ten and started getting tired all the time her Mother decided it would be best to homeschool her, but she tells her Mom it would be more fun if her younger brother Hawk was homeschooled as well.



Now at twelve, Sara and her brother are told not to bother the man, the Mister that moved into the apartment on the farm. It doesn't matter that they feel they want to know something about this strange man that rides a Unicycle around, and if they do bother this man they will be in a whole mess of trouble, but Sara has bigger troubles now. Marafan is causing issues with her heart, and she needs surgery to fix the problem, unfortunately they are not bringing in much money from the farm, due to a drought, and no one wants to loan them the money for the operation.


But when they discover The Mister is a well loved author of Children books, Hawk cooks up a scheme.



I give The Great Upending five out of five stars!


Happy Reading!

I received this ARC from the publisher through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This tells the story of Sara, a tween living with Marfan syndrome. Her family lives on a farm, and a fire brings them even closer to financial despair. She's in need of surgery to repair her heart, but her parents are struggling to figure out where the money will come from. Meanwhile, a mysterious author is renting a room on their property and Sara and her brother Hawk are dying to find out what he's up to.

I liked a lot of this book. Sara and Hawk were sympathetic characters but I felt a lot of time was spent on things that didn't move the story, and the ending blew by too fast.