Fortune Tellers

March 15, 2024
Big changes nearly sever the friendships between three besties, but magical paper fortune tellers just might reunite them. Even though their families are different in many ways, Nora, Bea, and Millie have been close since kindergarten at Shire, their "hippie" school in Manhattan. One memorable day in third grade, they discovered a brand of markers called Write Your Destiny at a stationery store and used them to make fortune tellers. But they got older, and eventually Nora decided that fortune tellers were babyish. Further cracks appeared when Nora attended wealthy Quinn's birthday party--even though Quinn had publicly snubbed Bea and Millie. Angrily, the girls threw away their fortune tellers. These cracks turn into canyons when the Covid-19 pandemic brings remote schooling, and the girls' families move away before their differences can be resolved. With seventh grade starting soon, the girls mysteriously start finding fortune tellers with messages pointing the way forward--and back to one another. The third-person narration rotates through each girl's confusion and longing for old friends; the book also contains flashbacks to pivotal moments in their history. Greenwald sensitively captures the social dynamics of middle school, where popularity can take precedence over friendship. Readers will embrace the light magical element, but an appreciation of the real work needed to salvage the girls' bonds won't be lost on them, either. Main characters are cued white; Millie and Nora are Jewish. Tears and cheers abound in this endearing take on friendship. (Fiction. 8-12)

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May 15, 2024
Grades 4-7 Readers will see three sides of a story in this novel about the importance of friendship and finding your people. Milly, Bea, and Nora go to an idyllic school where they are encouraged to pursue reading and music more than math and other ""serious"" subjects, and around third grade, they get into fortune tellers (or cootie catchers). By fifth grade, Milly is still into them, but the others aren't, and the group has a falling out. Now, two years later, the three live far from one another, and strange happenings lead them back to their friendship. The girls show some initiative and practice activism as it pertains to their beloved school in an unexpected way. The book also gently touches on tough subjects like divorce, poverty, and providing health care to a family member. It's a realistic look at situations everyday kids might have to live with, and a sweet story about perspective and making things right with people, as well as finding ways to use your creativity and interests for the good of a community.

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