Close to Famous

Bauer, J. (2011) Close to Famous. New York: Puffin.

Foster and her mom are on the run from her mother's abusive boyfriend. They end up Culpepper, West Virginia, a small town with some interesting characters including a boy who wants to make films but doesn't have a camera, a woman determined to help others despite having very little herself, and a movie star hiding from her life. Foster has a gift and a problem. She is a very talented baker, as the town soon discovers,  but she cannot read or write. Her struggles with reading come to light when she fills in  for Macon at his job at Miss Charleena's house. Miss Charleena also struggled with reading and is willing to teach Foster. As the story progresses, Foster and her friends learn that they must face what they are afraid of, be it ex-boyfriends, escaped convicts, or the press in order to move on in their lives.

This story reminds me of Fish in a Tree. Foster has so much in common with Ally. They both have talents but cannot read. Foster can bake, while Ally is an artist. It takes someone special to notice that they have an issue with reading and to help them. Both girls have military fathers; Foster has lost her father in the war, while Ally's is still deployed. And both girls struggle with hiding their reading issues from those around them. I used Fish in a Tree last year as a read aloud. I may put this book in the hands of a couple of my girls who loved Fish, and see what they think.