Great Good Summer

Ivy and Paul hatch a secret plan to find Ivys missing mom and say good-bye to the space shuttle in this heartfelt and engaging debut novel (School Library Journal, starred review) reminiscent of Each Little Bird that Sings and Because of Winn-Dixie.Ivy Greens mama has gone off with a charismatic preacher called Hallelujah Dave to The Great Good Bible Church of Panhandle Florida. At least thats where Ivy and her dad think Mama is. But since the church has no website or phone number and Mama left no forwarding address, Ivys not entirely sure. She does know shes missing Mama. And shes starting to get just a little worried about her, too. Paul Dobbs, one of Ivys schoolmates, is also having a crummy summer. Paul has always wanted to be an astronaut, and now that NASAs space shuttle program has been scrapped, it looks like his dream will never get off the ground. Although Ivy and Paul are an unlikely pair, it turns out they are the perfect allies for a runaway road trip to Floridato look for Mama, to kiss the Space Shuttle good-bye, and maybe, just maybe, regain their faith in the things in life that are most important.