How can anyone resist a book with such an adorable puppy on the cover?
Not me, that’s who. Plus, one of my favorite authors, Joan Bauer, wrote Raising Lumie, so choosing it at the library was a no-brainer.
Olive has done her research. She has saved her money and has started working towards her goal of buying her own dog.
Now she has to convince her new-to-her older half-sister, Maudie, that they need a puppy.
But Maudie isn’t convinced. Especially since they have to sell the house Olive grew up in since their dad died. And move to a new town.
Olive is obviously not happy about any of these developments.
The good news is that in her new town, Olive is introduced to a group of volunteers who raise puppies to become seeing eye dogs.
Olive’s growth in her new town is mirrored by the growth of the puppy she’s raising. Lumie helps Olive grieve her dad, adjust to a new town and school, and get to know the other people who share the house in which the sisters rent two rooms.
Bauer is a sensitive writer and doesn’t shy away from the hard while giving moments of poignancy and laughter. The sisters make up silly songs together and Olive writes about her growing love for her sister in her journal. Her description of love is not to be missed.
Highly recommended for ages 10 and up.
“I wonder, maybe, if love isn’t just something you’re born feeling toward another person;
Maybe it’s also something you decide on. …
More like, I want to love you.
In the beginning of our beginning,
I had to work at it.”
-Olive, Raising Lumie, Chapter 17
Cultivating Readers 