Hold Fast by Blue Balliett (review)

The Pearl family doesn't have much money, but fifth-grader Early Pearl is secure in the love of her parents, Dash and Sum, and in the wonderful world of language and books that Dash, a page at the Chicago Public Library, revels in. That security shatters when Dash mysteriously disappears and thugs ransack the Pearls' tiny apartment, sending Early, her mother, and her young brother, fleeing their apartment amid a bitter Chicago winter. Their only option is a homeless shelter, a fact that sends Sum spiraling down into depression and leaves Early taking charge of the family as she tries to solve the puzzle of her father's disappearance, the odd behavior of his co-workers at the library, and the Langston Hughes book the family treasures—and everybody else seems to want to get their hands on. The picture of shelter life here is vivid and compelling, blending appreciation for the sanctuary with a clear-eyed assessment of the flaws, while the Pearls, a close African-American family with a delight in the life of the mind, are a sympathetic crew. The plotting is fairly outlandish, however, and Balliett's familiar love of patterning doesn't work as well as usual, overlaid as it is on an otherwise standard middle-schooler-solves-a-crime plot. Readers will still admire Early's pluck in the face of difficult circumstances, and they'll be glad to see her family back together. A note about homelessness is appended.