A string of treasured buttons becomes a metaphor for a young girl’s struggle to accept her new stepmother in this poignant exploration of love and loss. Laura’s memory buttons represent all the stories that have been handed down through generations of family, beginning with her great-grandmother. When her mother died, the memory string became a talisman, ensuring that Laura would remember all the times they shared. Now her father has remarried and Laura uses the memory string as a way of blocking out the presence of her new stepmother, Jane, someone Laura is determined can never take her real mother’s place. Yet when the string accidentally breaks and the buttons scatter, it’s Jane who searches with a flashlight far into the night until every button is found. Is it possible that there can be room in Laura’s life for her stepmother after all? Sun-dappled watercolors capture the feel of a warm summer day and provide a framework for Laura’s observation of her father and his new wife as they work together painting the front porch. Close-up illustrations portray Laura’s range of emotions, from sadness and petulance to distress and finally tentative friendship. Bunting (Doll Baby, see above, etc.) has found an original way to tell an old story about making room for new memories. (Picture book. 5-8)
