Ann of Sunflower Lane

In a couple of months, Ann Alwyn's dad will get a real job, and this whole neglect thing will be cleared up. She's only at Sunflower Lane for the summer, she's certain.



Fifteen-year-old Ann doesn't have much choice in the matter: It's live with the maternal grandparents she's never met in Kansas or go to a foster home when her father is found by the courts to be a neglectful parent. Still, she's positive it's only for the summer of 1989 and her father will make good on his promise to get a steady job and provide a stable home life for her. At Sunflower Lane, Ann discovers she strongly resembles the mother she never knew and that everyone from her strict grandmother to her more understanding grandfather avoids talking about her mother. Ann's vivid imagination conjures up numerous explanations for this silence, fueled by her voracious reading and subtle clues that accumulate over the months. She finds herself torn between learning the answers to her questions and dreading what they might be. When Grandpa gifts her an old edition of Anne of Green Gables, Ann immediately identifies with the title character, especially when her father fails to make good on his promise to get her back. The weeks and months unfold at Sunflower Lane, and along the way, Ann makes a best friend for the first time in Corrie Addair and a temptingly handsome challenge to her grandmother's "no boys" rule in Corrie's brother, Cameron. As Ann integrates herself into the fabric of life at Sunflower Lane, she meets a community that broadens her notions of home, family, friendship, and love. When she uncovers a difficult truth about her past, the consequences could be life-altering.

 

Complete with a Book Club Kit containing discussion questions, recipes, and Cameron's Mix Tape playlist, Ann of Sunflower Lane will be beloved by readers of all ages.