A review by joinreallife
The Care and Keeping of Freddy by Susan Hill Long

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

 I gotta say, I did not expect my reaction to this book. It made me surprisingly emotional. It's an age-appropriate look at some incredibly challenging times for three preteens. Georgia is our main character, who is taking care of a bearded dragon called Freddy. Her mom left her and Georgia's dad nearly two years ago to run off with a man called Lyle and she now has a new baby, Rosie. When Georgia's mom Blythe returns to town with her new family, and her continually unpredictable and harmful behavior, George struggles with the sense of abandonment she felt, navigating how to spend time with her mom and her new sister while feeling bad about leaving her dad and Freddy. This was definitely tough to read at times, as Blythe is certainly manipulative when it comes to Georgia's feelings. At the same time, Rosie's super intelligent best friend Maria is managing her household of seven kids with the help of her abuela and her big brothers, taking care of her three younger sisters because her parents have abdicated their parenting for the summer to move into the trailer in the backyard. Georgie and Maria are also becoming friends with a new boy, Roland, whose father is incarcerated and his mother was deemed "unfit" so he's just counting the days until his older brother is released from juvie and comes to get him from the foster family that is trying to love him fiercely, despite his walls. Georgia's dad killed me, he's such a sweet gentle man, and it's so lovely to see that portrayal of fatherhood. It's a difficult book to read, but addresses the reality of some family situations with care and thoughtfulness. The ending was very sweet. I honestly loved this.