The 25[ Miracle

“Friendless and dreamy 11-year-old Elvira Trumbull lives with her unemployed, heavy-drinking father . . . and idolizes the town’s children’s librarian, Miss Ivy, who shares her interest in growing roses and provides her with the female affection she has missed since her mother died. . . . Elvira is a splendidly realized character and a tough survivor. . . . Miss Ivy is the wise person we all wish we could be. . . . The complexities of Trumbull’s character . . . add depth to the story. . . . Readers will appreciate the changes they see in him and rejoice in the positive note on which the novel…

“This compassionate first novel is skillfully related and its characters are perceptively drawn. . . . ‘They ain’t no guarantees worth piddly squat,’ Hank warns Elvira, but in her sweetly comic, determined way, Elvira sets out to improve the odds. . . . A noteworthy debut.”