Replay Book

Sharon Creech has to be one of my all-time favorite authors. I have loved everything I've ever read that she wrote. This book was no exception. I've had it on my shelf to read forever...but I think I was put off by the cover. I mean, a FISH? I didn't want to read a book about fishing.

Well, guess what? The fish on the cover is a sardine because Leo's large, loud, demanding Italian family calls him "Sardine" and "Fog Boy." Sardine because once "...when relatives were over, shouting and laughing and shaking their fists, Leo got squashed in a corner and cried, and when they asked him why he was crying, he said, 'I'm just a little sardine, squashed in a tin.' " The name stuck.

I connected with this quick, easy read in so many ways. I, too, grew up in a large, noisy family where I sometimes felt lost in the thundering herd. I, too, used to hide away in secret places and rewrite my life in daydreams. I, too, sometimes felt invisible and over-run by my larger-than-life (to me!) siblings. I, too, used to listen to the grown-ups talk and come away with more questions than answers.

This book is such a tender, coming of age story (I hesitate to use that hackneyed phrase)...but Leo DOES learn so much about his family and himself in this wonderful little gem of a book. There was a little ache behind my heart for Leo all the way through.

I HIGHLY recommend it...along with anything else by Sharon Creech. Awwww...I better change my rating to five stars, because there's a good chance I WILL read it again...maybe to my students.