Willowood

by Cecilia Galante

There's nothing ten-year-old Lily Sinclair likes about her new life in the city with her single mom. She misses her best friend, who seems to have forgotten her and their secret place, Willowood. She never sees her mom, who's working long hours at her new job. She's managed to make an enemy of the class bully. Mrs. Hiller from across the hall, who takes care of Lily after school, keeps preparing yucky healthy snacks for her. And she can't get her mother to tell her anything about her absent father. Her only source of comfort is her beloved pet gecko, Weemis. Everything changes when Mrs. Hiller introduces Lily to the owner of the Pet Palace, a nearby pet store, and his adult Down's syndrome son, Nate Lily finds herself with an unofficial after school job--and forges a tentative friendship with Nate that's threatened by a dark secret about Nate Lily knows nothing about.

Genres: Middle Grade, Friendship, Realistic Fiction, Childrens, Juvenile, School, Fiction

272 pages, Hardcover

First published February 15, 2010

About the author

Cecilia Galante is the author of several middle grade, young adult and adult novels. She also teaches 8th grade English at Wyoming Seminary Prep School, and teaches creative writing in the MFA program at Wilkes University.

Reviews

[Melanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a really sweet and timely book. I read to my 5th grade twins - one has Down syndrome and I wanted a normalizing character to expose my kids to. The issues of bullying and how to deal with them were addressed. Loved the triumphant ending that family not being “normal” can be the greatest gift ❤️

[Alessandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm speechless!

[Shannon · Rating 5 out of 5]

KSKS

[Kyra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh one more of my favorite childhood books!!

[Monica · Rating 3 out of 5]

So far Lily hates her new life in the noisy city with neighbors that make so much noise in the night that she thinks that they are vampires , and almost every night her mom has to call the police on them because they can barley sleep . Lily is the main character of this book. ‘’Willowood Cecilia Galantes powerful novel of friendship and family.
Lily Sinclair misses her best friend Bailey who seems to have forgotten her . Lily has moved away and is very sad about that .She and Bailey had a secret place ,where she used to live .Her mom works for long hours and she only sees her in the night ,and Lily made a enemy in school. But when Mrs Hiller her next door neighbor introduces her to Bernard he owns the pet palace gave her a part time job there. Lily makes a great friend with his son, Nate with a adult syndrome he helps her a lot and they even save iguana eggs. But when Lily trys to do something special for him he goes crazy and and she needs help from a someone she thought can never count on .
I think this book has a lot of feeling into it because Lily loves iguanas and lizards, and couldn’t believe what they did to them in the pet store . Also she misses her best friend Bailey and her dad who she never met. Shes tired of lies and sadness. I rate this 3 stars and recommend it to a lot of people that like a book with feeling in it , but it really didn’t have a problem so that kind of ruined it but it was good book . And hope of people take chances and read this book.

[Deborah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lily doesn't want to live in the new city her mom moved them too. She just wants to go home where she can be with her best friend Bailey in Willowood, their secret place. Soon she finds herself enemies with the class bully, barely having anything to say to Bailey, and making friends with Nate, the son of a pet store owner who has Downs Syndrome.

I've read Cecilia Galante's other books, and consider myself a fan, especially of the Patron Saint of Butterflies. She has a note in the beginning of this book saying that this was the first book she ever wrote, and I can see the signs of a beginning writer. The plot points such as Nate and Lily's friendship and the bullying are both very good, but each one sort of crowds the book, so one inevitably suffers (in this case, the bullying storyline has a hasty end). But the characters are excellent, and Galante does a great job of creating a fifth grader's universe. I would definitely recommend this one, but probably to a more patient reader rather than a reluctant one.

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A friendship story--Lily moves to the city from a very small town when her mother changes jobs. Lily's father has been absent her whole life, and she wonders about him even more once she is without her lifelong best friend Bailey and their magical hideaway, Willowood. Suddenly Bailey has no time to talk with Lily on the phone and has befriended their old nemesis. Lily must deal with a bully named Amanda at her new school and struggles to find her way in new friendships with smart, organized Gina and with Nate, the adult son of the owner of a pet store where Lily spends time after school and who has Downs Syndrome.

Nicely woven into this story about adapting to new situations and standing up for oneself and one's friends are references to Alice in Wonderland, which Lily must read for a school assignment and shares aloud with Nate.

Beautifully written, with authenticity in every character.

[Dest · Rating 3 out of 5]

Why did it take me so long to read this book? Because right after I started it I got a bunch of other new books and they all seemed a lot more exciting. I'm sorry, Willowood. You're a good little story with a lot of heart, but you are also a not a stand-out title in my Mock Newbery reading.

Just for fun, let me transcribe the notes I took while I was reading this: "Lily. Moving from small town to city. Friendship tested. Love of lizards. Absent father. Mother smokes. Willowood = Terabithia-like special place. Picky eater. Coffee drinker. Target of school bullies. Dodgeball. Pet store job. Adult friend with Down syndrome. Hatching lizard eggs. Superman. Alice in Wonderland. Unconventional family."

Ah. That was easier than trying to sum up the plot. Mock Newbery review here: http://blogs.kcls.org/newbery/2010/06...

[Diane · Rating 4 out of 5]

"How could Mom have thought that moving to the city would be a good thing? Their lives had been so perfect back home in Glenview, where everything was quiet and green." Lily is having a hard time adjusting. Her best friend back home seems to have forgotten all about her. The bully at school is targeting her. Her Mom works so many double shifts that she hardly gets to see Lily. It just doesn't seem like she'll ever be happy again. But then, Gina, a girl at school, asks her to eat lunch. And Mrs. Hiller takes her to Pet Palace after school one day where she begins to hang out regularly, enjoying being around the animals. And slowly, Lily begins to build her new life. There are obstacles along the way, but Lily works through the problems in a believable fashion.

A solid story about friendship, loss and the strength of family.

[Bailey Roehrich · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was pretty good. I think you should read this book because it is kind of sad, but it is really sweet and nice at the same time. If you have moved away and haven't got to talk to your bestfriend after that, this book is for you. She moved away because her mom needed a better job. She and her best friend, Bailey, were very sad that she had to leave and go to a bigger city with a better job. Everytime her mom would say they are going on a trip, she would get so excited and hope they were going back home to see Bailey, most of the time they weren't going back home to see her.

[Addison Children's Services · Rating 2 out of 5]

Lily is upset to leave her BFF behind following a move, but soon learns her friend has moved on and we all forget about her. Lily has trouble with the class bully, but makes friends with the class nerd and a man with Down Syndrome. I was a little creeped out by how chummy she becomes with a adult male, I thought somewhere the book said he was in his thirties. I mostly thought of him a teen, and of course his mental age was about 8. Spoiler Alert: They all live happily ever after. Okay girl book.

[Becky · Rating 4 out of 5]

Chloe, my 9 year old daughter, told me I HAD to read this! As it's one of her recent favorites and it's by Cecilia Galante - another of her favorite authors!! So I did. I could see every reason why Chloe loved it - animals, friendship, and family. :) It was well-written and a great story for our juvenile readers. It's the story of Lily- she is working though her struggles with who she is, why she has no dad, moving and true friends. Fun read and I'd recommend it!

[Libriar · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyable book about a 5th-grade girl (only child, single mother) adjusting to life after moving to a new city. There were a few interesting elements like her friendship with a man with cerebral palsy. At the same time, the age level of the girl didn't always seem to fit with the plot. A decent read for 3rd and 4th grade girls.

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fairly underwhelmed by this one. It's sweet enough- good premise. I think the problem is that I went into it thinking it could be a Newberry contender and had much too high expectations for it. Might appeal to some of my 6th graders - probably won't be able to attract any of the older students to it.

[Angela · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really cute and engaging story about a fifth-grader, new to a city school. She yearns for the country and her old friends, but finds some new ones after learning a lot about herself and others. Touches on bullying, special needs adults, parents who abandon children, adults who care about children that aren't their own bioliogically, among other topics.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a tough transition from small town to big city and Lily doesn't like it. She also doesn't like going from having her mother to herself to barely seeing her with this new job. A neighbor watches Lily and introduces her to a few new people and a pet shop. With her new after school job, Lily learns a lot about herself and others.

[Ashley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Galante does a good job with contemporary realistic fiction that is not sensational or preachy. Willowood is a solid story about friendship and family with some real-life drama. Well-done and I enjoyed it, something I struggle with in middle grade fiction of this sort. See: Love Me Tender. Will definitely keep up with Galante.

[Aimee Owen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found it hard to be sympathetic with many of the characters, as they were often rash in forming judgment on others and rather self-absorbed. But I can see a lesson here on patience, empathy, and standing up for yourself, especially for readers around the age of Lily, the main character. Overall, a good read.

[Taylor · Rating 5 out of 5]

Willowood was a great book! It's about a girl named Lily Sinclair who moves to a new city and a new school. She doesn't really like it. Her best friend Bailey doesn't talk to her much anymore, she has to try to make new friends at her new school, and she has to deal with the biggest bully in fifth grade, Amanda Peterson. I love the ending! It is definitely my favorite part!

[Dolores · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice look through the eyes of a young girl adjusting to a move and the trauma of starting over. The interest in lizards was a nice touch, since I knew nothing about them and it was cool to learn. I really liked that the characters all had shades of gray. No one was all bad or all good and adults actually helped with the bullying.

[Anne Kalkowski · Rating 3 out of 5]

Originally, had a hard time connecting with the main character, but she eventually grew up quite a bit and ultimately grew on me. A good story about friendship, family, and taking care of each other.

[Ambri Refer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad, but not great. Other characters in the book needed a little more development. There was too much detail when mentioning food and not enough detail when describing characters. Would have been interesting to hear more from the bully's point of view.

[Kristin Fletcher-spear · Rating 3 out of 5]

reviewed for LMC.

[SunsetRose]

A really awesome book!

[Kathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good characters. Bullying, character with Downs, friendship, adjusting to a new town, school, iguana eggs.
A story that has been written before but with good characters.

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

A sweet story about friendship in all in varied forms.

[Benji Martin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty good. not amazing, but ok.

[Julia Bernaiche · Rating 4 out of 5]

love this book I would read it 50 times over

[Mareesia Avila · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like this book too, i can relate to what Lily is experiencing with her mom and Bailey, then the iguana's eggs that she can't take care of.

[Rhianna · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book. The way you see inside the main character's head is amazing. I would recommend this book to anyone who loves a budding story.