This delightful and heartwarming novel tells the story of a little girl growing up in the rural Delmarva Peninsula in the 1960s. Yvonnah is only five-and-a-half years old when she gets a new name and almost everything in her little world changes. She learns to answer to her new name, Lacey, and has to adjust to living with her mother and new dad instead of with her beloved grandparents.

Lacey tells her own story as a memoir, vividly describing her thoughts and feelings and the world around her. Her relationship with her mother is rather strained to begin with, but she is very close to her Grandy and Nana. She is particularly attached to Grandy, and the security and love he and Nana have given her. Lacey recalls a wish that she and Grandy made and his promise that “people that love each other will be together again someday” and even keeps the wishbone as a reminder. Her new situation is frightening and unfamiliar to her, but she gains some new family members that she is learning to love. And best of all, she soon has a new friend named Lyddie. The two little girls become best friends quickly and explore their neighborhood together, and begin a sweet and childlike journey of faith and friendship together as well.

Her new friend, her new family members, visits to her grandparents, and time spent in nature help to heal Lacey’s hurts, but when Lyddie becomes very sick and other hardships and tragedies come along, Lacey learns about faith, forgiveness, and extending love and hope to others.

The first couple of chapters moved a little slowly, as Lacey’s memories of the day she got her name change are combined with the memories and descriptions of people and experiences leading up to that day; but soon I found myself captivated by her evocative and often humorous descriptions of her world, and felt her heartbreak and confusion right along with her. In fact, I was moved to tears several times.

Although set in the 1960s, Lacey’s story is one that would resonate with many young people in today’s world who long for stability and hope in circumstances where they have little control. The lyrical descriptive style make it a charming read suitable for teens and adults, with a subtle but encouraging message that even in times of pain and heartbreak, God’s love is still real.

A set of discussion questions at the end of the book make it suitable for a book club as well.

-Product review by Kym Thorpe, The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine, LLC, April, 2017