Though Louisiana, our plucky young heroine, appears in Kate DiCamillo’s Raymie Nightingale, this is a standalone novel and, in my opinion, even better than the first!

Louisiana is woken by her granny in the middle of the night and told it is the day of reckoning and they must flee immediately. She doesn’t at first realise that this time it’s not just one of Granny’s little ways or ideas, but that her whole life, everything she believed to be true, will be turned upside down and gone forever. To whom can a young girl, alone in a strange town, turn? Only to those around her, who may or may not fail her.

Young readers are in the hands of a wise, kind author who will set their imaginations alight and show them a life quite different from their own. What more could one ask? Highly recommended for ages 9+

Kathy Kozlowski has worked in children’s books for almost 50 years, and currently offers recommendations at Readings Kids.