Skinnybones and the Wrinkle Queen- Glen Huser

Doesn’t the title alone just grab you? Looking through my group of Snow Willow books, I realized that this was the other one I needed to comment on. In a time when teenage angst is at an all-time high in young adult novels, it was refreshing to find one that found a way to put some humour into it as well. Tamara has been in many foster homes and when she decides she wants to take a modelling course, she knows Shirl and Herb will never be able to fork over the fee. Tamara is also frustrated with the community service project her teacher has dreamed up- being paired with an old person in a nursing home. Both of these characters are well-drawn with lots of humour interjected throughout as the pair strike up an unlikely alliance in an attempt to both get what is important to them. Tamara needs money for her modelling course and the “Wrinkle Queen” needs a driver to take her on a trip to see her favourite operas. Will it work or will they kill each other first?

One of the things I miss about not being in a classroom setting is the lack of opportunity to read novels aloud to older students. I believe this would be a fun read-aloud with lots of room for discussion and would also fit well with the emphasis we have on teaching the moral intelligences. It would be fun to make comparisons to other books about unlikely friendships, both novels and picture books. It would be fun to write about a personal unusual relationship we may have encountered in our lives as well.

But aside from all that, if promoting great reads is what we, and the Willows, are all about, the Skinnybones and the Wrrinkle Queen fits the mandate well.

My huge apologies- apparently I really wanted this book to be on this year’s Snow Willow list and thus assumed it was. So just call it a really great read!!