Bigger than a bread box

Does not count toward my yearly total, but a great middle grade read. My only concern is that children who have parents who are going through a divorce might “run away” in order to fix the relationship. That is a little dangerous! Loved the magic of the box, and that it is not always a quick fix for the bigger problems in life. Loved Gran!
Not sure I really understood what was up with the dad, depression maybe?
Writing was wonderful and thoughtful. I did think the symbolism of the gulls was a touch heavy handed-but they made great decoration for the first pages of the chapters.
I will put this into the hands of kids who want some contemp./realistic fiction with a “hint” of magical realism. I heard this may be a Newberry contender, and that sounds about right to me.

Sad

I read this in about one day and I enjoyed it but it was pretty forgettable. In a show of spectacularly bad parenting (IMHO) Rebecca's mother moves her and her brother away from their home in Baltimore to get away from Rebecca's father who...hasn't done much of anything to deserve such treatment. Yeah, the guy's not the best husband, but wow. Anyway, Rebecca is understandably upset but she is cheered a bit when she finds an old bread box that grants wishes. She can wish for anything she wants, provided what she wants will fit inside the bread box.

This was a fun and easy read which would probably appeal to the preteen crowd. It's too real to be considered a proper fantasy and yet there aren't enough real-life things that happen to hold the interest of kids who prefer realistic fiction. I'm not sure about this one.