Written by Sonya Hartnett
Published by Candlewick, 2010
ISBN  9780763647605

Skillfully written and emotionally excavating, Butterfly is the story of insecure fourteen-year-old Plum as she navigates the difficulty of life on the outer ring.  Harnett captures how awkward and unfamiliar the body can be for girls that age and how cruel and fickle friendships can be.  She allows her character to make mistakes – big ones, and to be human with all that it entails.  Plum seeks shelter from the cruelty of middle grade girls, and a family that doesn’t understand her, in an adult female neighbor who seems to have all the answers.  The characters are all flawed and some have secrets that build to a crescendo where everything unravels and people are seen in a different way.  Plum’s view of her two older brothers reveals her growth.  Allegiances shift.  Hartnett is a keen observer of humanity and captures it subtly and beautifully in her writing.  Her stories are about the messy nature of life and the contradictions in people.  Her lack of sentimentality is admirable.  A favorite line from the book, from Plum’s perspective: “The world is such a sad kind place that she is forced to groan.”

—Kari Baumbach