A Finder Keeper’s Place by Ann Haywood Leal

Leal, Ann Haywood A Finder Keeper’s Place, 259 p. Henry Holt, 2010.  $16.99.  Content: G.  Valley is almost impossible to control.  Esther, 10, knows, because she has been picking up after her mother and protecting her little sister, Ruth, ever since Ezekiel, the girls’ father, disappeared years earlier.  Esther scrounges for things to keep the household afloat and on the weekends, she and Ruth visit various nearby churches in search of their preacher father.  The girls’ life is complicated and precarious.  This is the third book that I have read in so may weeks that addresses a child dealing with a parent who has a mental illness.  This can be important for a child who is in this situation to recognize the signs of what their parent is going through and realize that they can ask for help from trusted adults instead of hiding.  EL, MS – ADVISABLE. Cindy, Library Teacher.