Pine Island Home by Polly Horvath (review)

After sisters Fiona, Marlin, Natasha, and Charlie are orphaned, they're sent to stay with their great-aunt Martha on a Canadian island; unfortunately, they arrive in British Columbia to discover Martha's just died. Since she was their last resort and they're determined to avoid being split up, they decide to stay in Martha's house and fly under the radar ("If they didn't tell anyone they were living without a grown-up, who was to know?"). Eventually they're helped by the kind local teacher and by their grumpy, much-less-kind neighbor Al, who are in on the secret, but fourteen-year-old Fiona still struggles to keep her family together and provide for them as they need. Horvath fans will recognize her recurring subject of kids outside of traditional adult care, and the book deftly balances a twenty-first century setting with a classic orphan-story feel. Indeed, the story gains impact from the tension between the girls' belief in a storybook solution to their plight and the realities of loss ("The frightening knowledge that people you were a part of could be just gone") and a situation that is just too much for them to handle. The girls are well distinguished as characters, and there's plenty of humor in witty turns of phrase and their eccentric lives. Ultimately, it's an appealing domestic survival story with a slice of reality, bound to appeal to youngsters who contemplate an adult-free life.