Halfway to the Sky by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley Date of Publication: 2002 ISBN: 0440418305 Number of Pages: 162

REQUIRED READING ABILITY:Low
GENRES: Adventure, Realism
THEMES: Life versus Death, Family, Coming of Age, Isolation

SUMMARY:
Dani is on the run from everything…her overworked mother, who had time for her brother but never for her, her absent father, who is starting a new life with someone he barely knows, and her grief for her brother, who died suddenly from a disease that she might carry. Unable to deal with her life, she sets out on a six-month journey to hike the entire Appalachian Trail, the place where her parents met and married, and for which she and her brother were named. Despite all her planning, her mother soon arrives to crash the party, and instead ends up joining Dani on a shortened version of her plan. As they hike, they grow to understand one another better. Dani eventually comes to terms with her past, answers some longstanding questions, and decides that maybe she can accept her family, and her new place in it, after all.

WHO WOULD LOVE THIS BOOK: A kid who...

• likes hiking
• understands the loss of a family member
• has parents who are splitting up (or already have split up)
• has a parent remarrying
• has a defiant streak
• is into mountains and nature
• likes a realistic story told in simple language
  

WHAT ELSE?
This is a great story about the whole mother-daughter bond, and is told in an episodic, first person narrative that makes Dani’s feelings easily accessible to weaker readers.
Dani’s brother’s sudden death from complications of Duchenne’s Muscular Dystrophy is explained in stages, and done sensitively and effectively. A child with a family member having a similar type of illness, however, should probably not read this without some preparation, as it might create some anxiety.

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