According to his teachers, his parents, extended family and even himself, 11-yr-old Ware (Where) is a misfit. He doesn’t enjoy joining in at school, in class or on the playground. But he does love being in his room, on his own, thinking and dreaming and wondering.

His plans to spend the summer at his grandmother’s, jumping in the pool, imagining life as a knight, and enjoying his own company, are suddenly scuttled. His parents need to work long hours for a while and they sign him up to a summer holiday program. Ware hates it at the Rec, and pleads to be left alone at home.

No deal. Only an hour or so into his first day, Ware escapes. Not far. The church next door has been half demolished, the building itself mostly rubble, but the garden is orderly and being tended by a girl. Jolene may be smaller than him but she fiercely protects her tiny plants laid out in tin cans, trying to run him off the site. He’s intrigued and she soon tolerates his presence in her garden.  This quiet space is heaven for Ware, and as Jolene has made claim to the dirt, he does so for the rubble, his imagination filled with castles and honour and the first tentative thoughts of a moat.

Jolene needs this garden, and Ware soon discovers why. Jolene may be prickly, but they become friends over the summer. Ware grows more confident with people and builds muscles he never had before. He learns gardening skills and is  soon even involved in saving the lives of migratory birds expected above the church. With a little help he discovers he isn’t a misfit, but a creative, and there is a possible project to focus that creativity.

Jolene is living a tough life, and is constantly reminding Ware that he lives in “all Magic Fairness Land,” and not in the real world like she has to. Ware is determined to show her that a blend of his world and hers is possible.

By the author of the heart wrenching Pax, this story too tugs at the heart strings. Jolene is feisty and sullen, with a tough outer shell protecting herself from past hurt and loss. Ware is a the opposite with a ‘helicopter’ parent (his mum), who controls his every move – until his discovery of the church. Jolene won’t let anybody in, and Ware is trying to break out. When their garden and ‘castle’ come under threat, Jolene believes it’s pointless to fight for it, but Ware is determined to win.

Author – Sara Pennypacker

Age – 8+

(Friendship, Self-sufficient, Castle, Knight, Sandhill Cranes, Environment, Birds, Migration, Imagination, Smothering, Summer holiday program, Family, Uncle, Shy, Loner)