A Corner of White

Moriarty, Jaclyn. A Corner of White. Arthur A. Levine Books, 2013.

This book has two stories in it.  The first is Madeleine's.  She and her mother ran off to London, leaving a life of luxury to live in a small apartment where her mother sews for a living and they eat nothing but beans. Madeleine is having trouble adjusting to her new life and doesn't understand why they don't just go back to her father.

Contrasted with that is the story of Eliot, who lives in the Kingdom of Cello.  His father has disappeared, and Eliot is convinced that he can find his lost father.  When his mother leases his father's store to a strange couple that moves into town, and the Butterfly Child appears, Eliot has more on his plate than he can handle.

These two stories collide via a "crack" that connects the two worlds.  Eliot and Madeleine exchange letters through this crack, and their friendship develops as they help each other with their various problems and try to make the best choices with limited information.

This book started a bit slow for me.  I just didn't understand why I had both stories, when either one would have made a perfectly acceptable book.  Eventually, the story grew on me, and things made much more sense near the end.  I'm not certain whether I'll read the sequel; I'm not invested enough in the story at this point, but it was a fun book and I know I could recommend it to my stronger readers.

Recommended for: teens, tweens, strong readers who can stick with a story "until it gets good"
Red Flags: minor mentions of Madeleine's father's alcoholism
Overall Rating: 4/5 stars