The Truth of Me by Patricia MacLachlan (review)

Young Robbie would like to be closer to his parents (professional musicians who travel often for performances), particularly his distant mother, who "likes her violin better than she likes me." Still, he's glad to be able to spend the two months of their latest tour with his grandmother, Maddy, and his dog, Ellie, at Maddy's cottage near the woods. Maddy has a way with animals both tame and wild, and with her guidance Robbie soon has Ellie trained to control her squirrel-chasing tendencies and to safely go for walks sans leash. When Maddy falls and hurts her ankle on a camping trip in the nearby woods, Robbie is able to send Ellie solo for help, and in her pain, Maddy reveals a family secret that helps Robbie better understand his mother. The large print, the easy-to-follow plot, the straightforward vocabulary, and the brief page count will make this a very accessible book for novice chapter book readers. Unfortunately, little actually happens; the big reveal of the family secret lacks drama, and it's a contrivance on top of the already clichéd plot twist of the injured ankle. Still, plenty of kids will relate to Robbie's problem with preoccupied parents, and Maddy's magic touch with various fauna will appeal to animal lovers.