Pearl Versus The World - Sally Murphy and Heather Potter

Pearl Versus The World
Sally Murphy (Author)
Heather Potter (Illustrator)
Candlewick
ISBN 9780763648213

The title of this book grabbed my attention immediately. I think all of us at times feel like we are living "versus the world". The book was a wonderful surprise. The story is wonderfully written and charmingly illustrated. This book would make a great text for a children's lit course at university, or to help prepare children for a loss or after a loss.

Pearl is part of a family of 3 - she, her mom and her grandmom. But her Grandma is forgetting who she is, and it is getting harder for her mom to look after her gram. At school Pearl feels like she is in a group of 1; she is not in the sporty boys' group, the ballet girls' group, the library kids' group, the bus kids' group or even the rough kids' group. But as the story progresses she realized things are not always as we perceive them. The story written and told from Pearl's perspective in a mix of rhyming and non-rhyming verse is very moving and touching. It is an amazing little book and I plan to recommend it often.

(Note: I received an electronic galley of this book through NetGalley, courtesy of Candlewick. The book was read on my Kobo eReader. As per my general disclaimer, free books have no impact on my review.)