Ava loves the outdoors. With only two days of school left she is thrilled when their class takes a trip to Central Park. Her friends on the other hand don’t care for it too much. They are into sports, reading and posting online or playing video games. Ava knows she will be stuck at home with her family unless she can convince them to let her go to her Aunt Ravens cabin in the Adirondack Mountains.. Ava knows it will be an uphill battle convincing her mother to let her go. Her mother doesn’t agree with her twin’s decision to live in the middle of no where. Her brother calls her crazy because “black folks don’t do nature.” What she assumes will be an impossible task, turns into the possible. She never expected her dad to side with her. Just like that they are making plans for her to spend her summer with her aunt.
Ava and her Aunt get along great. She knows a lot about being outdoors, but her aunt has so much more she can teach her. When her aunt is called away and she is left alone, life becomes very real. I loved this book. I loved how passionate Ava was about being outdoors. I loved that she didn’t try to conform to her family’s ideas of what you should be passionate about. I loved the realistic relationship throughout the story. This is a book I want my students to read. I highly recommend it.
