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THE APPLE TART OF HOPE by Sarah Moore Fitzgerald Kirkus Star

THE APPLE TART OF HOPE

by Sarah Moore Fitzgerald

Pub Date: April 1st, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-8234-3561-6
Publisher: Holiday House

When Meg’s family travels to New Zealand for six months, her best friend, Oscar, suffers a series of humiliations that lead him to try and take his own life.

After receiving the news of Oscar’s disappearance, Meg’s family returns to Ireland to find everyone searching. But after weeks without luck, only Meg and Oscar’s brother, Stevie, refuse to give up the hope that Oscar is still alive. Meg begins to piece together the events that led to Oscar’s desperate plummet off the town’s pier. Chapters told from Oscar’s point of view show that he is alive but in hiding. The two interlocking stories reveal the terrible plan designed to break Oscar’s spirit as well as the person responsible at its heart. While this is a sweet story of friendship and first love, it is also a road map for keeping hope alive. And while Oscar temporarily loses his way, he is quick to point out that others should never stop searching. Clueless adults, an over-the-top mean girl, and a picturesque small-town atmosphere all come together to make this a quiet story that may be the tiny push that someone thinking of giving up needs to keep going. Meg, a prototypical pale, Irish redhead, and Stevie, who uses a wheelchair and is absolutely indomitable, make a formidable team.

Sweetly satisfying.

(Fiction. 10-14)