Three Pennies
Melanie Crowder
2017, 181 pages
Children’s Fiction (Ages 8-12)
Marin has been bounced from foster home to foster home ever since her birth mother left seven years ago. She only has a pocket-size edition of the I Ching, a ceramic piggy bank and some fuzzy memories to remember her by. If only Marin could find her mother, they would be a family again. But the foster care system has other plans. Marin is now available for adoption and her overworked social worker, Gilda, has found just the right fit. Lucy, a busy surgeon, has her own heartache but wants to create a new family. Marin can’t let that happen. She must find her mother before it’s too late. Throw in an impending earthquake and a watchful owl and you have a very touching and poetic story perfect for middle-grade readers and beyond.
Three Pennies is a great choice for a thoughtful young reader who wants to branch out.
The focus on foster care and broken families would be applicable to many children today. It would also be a great read for a parent and child together, as the story is engaging for all ages.
Elizabeth GottheimerConcord Public Library
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