Cover Image: The Dollar Kids

The Dollar Kids

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Member Reviews

This book is great for middle graders. This book highlights difficulties and ways to try and get over them by starting again but also how it's important to face problems ahead

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This was an enjoyable book. It took a little bit to get into, but once I did, I was hooked by the plot development. It would be perfect for a middle grade reader, as I could see my younger self loving the idea of a dollar house, and starting over in a new town. There is a depth to these characters not often seen in the middle grade genre, and I enjoyed getting to spend time with them in this story. The family dynamics were realistic and complex at times, but stayed true to keeping in the perspective of a young narrator. Overall, an enjoyable read.

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A unique story about fitting in and the difficulties starting over. Great for middle grades.A slow-building story with a real feel-good ending that made me cry unexpectedly

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What a unique premise for a book. I loved the whole background of the "dollar" houses and "dollar families." There is a lot going on in this story but for me it all worked together to make for a compelling read. I will say that the graphic sections of the book didn't display properly in my reader so I can't speak to them.

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I really enjoyed the go-getter positive attitudes for the characters in this book. It's definitely one of my top 20 books for 2018. I felt that the plot rang true, lots of kids will identify with the struggle for housing security and community connections.

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Small as an Elephant and Paper Things comes a heart-tugging novel about guilt and grief, family and friendship, and, above all, community.



How would like to buy a house for a $1?! The catch is you have to have 3 kids, a certain skill that can be beneficial to the community, and have to complete all the necessary repairs required by the town to keep the house. Sounds like a reality show concept with social experimentation aspects to it. That is probably the most interesting part of this story.

It involves the family the Grovers who are ready to move out of the city into small town life. The reason is because a friend of the middle child(Lowen) was shot and killed one day. Since that depressing day Lowen who once drew comics has had a hard time drawing anything other than comics involving his dead friend, Abe.

The town is almost a ghost town and has many people move out due to the paper mill in town shutting down. That caused many of its residents either to move or have their homes foreclosed on since they are unable to make payments.

So the banks gave the homes back to the town to help try to bring back the town. So the town council came up with the $1 house proposal to help bring more students back to town so they could have enough kids for sports. Because everything in small towns is dependent on sports and small businesses. Plus bring more business and people of certain skills to the town.

Lowen's mum has decided that she wants to open a cornish eatery in the town. Based off cornish past that she could make and serve. But as she attempts to serve food during the lunch hour since the town has no lunch place, a small business open during breakfast hourd decides to expand it hours.

This of course causes a back and forth battle to occur between the businesses and many financial difficulties for the Grover family. And of course Lowen is still dealing with the loss of his friend and the transition to small town life.

He has to enroll in sports to help the school have enough players to field a team. But he struggles in athletic ability and know how. At one point he scores a winning shot for the opposing team.

The story has some interesting developments as it goes along and deals with grief and growing up. I think the story is good, but could have benefited from more character development. I felt the characters really didn't jump off the page and become alive for me. I also felt the story may have taken on to many plot devices to really get at the main issues that Lowen is experiencing.

I give this book a slight recommendation for those who enjoy emotional, feel good stories.





An interesting realistic fiction that deals with grief, small town politics, and family struggles.

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Finally something kind of new! I liked the idea of incorporating dollar homes and crowd funding into a family story! Yeah, you, Jennifer Jacobson! The whole idea of helping a family like that just won me over! I enjoyed the story itself, too. I can't even imagine what it would be like to lose a friend to a shooting, so sad; I work with kids who have lost family and friends that way. Even tho' I can't really relate to getting a $1.00 home, every time I've moved into a new area, I've encountered people who feel I have some how driven out previous owners or are now as worthy as the previous owners of living in the new to me home. People are odd like that, I guess. ultimately they come around, but, just weird. It must be hard being the old timers in a particular place and watching it change. Just as hard as it is for the new comers. Well, the book offers lots of insight into Lowen and his family's experiences and I am sure many children will relate to the story. Good read!

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I absolutely loved this story. I felt that Jennifer did an amazing storytelling job. I book talked this to my students as thought it's a bedtime story that you become so engrossed in that you want to know more and what is to come. Highly recommend.

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The Dollar Kids by Jennifer Richard Jacobson looks at rural America from the eyes of an outsider who desperately wants to fit in. I really loved the different layers within this story–it looked at everything from starting a business to vlogging to feeling responsible for a death to accepting others who may be different to the decline of a town after a business closes and so much more. It was a fantastic read.

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I thoroughly enjoyed this book!! It has a great pace and well rounded family story. It is evident by the title that the main focus and point of view would be that of the kids, but the parents are just as involved in the story. Very pleased to be able to review this!!

#NetGalley

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Twelve-year-old Lowen Grover, a budding comic-book artist, is still reeling from the shooting death of his friend Abe when he stumbles across an article about a former mill town giving away homes for just one dollar. It not only seems like the perfect escape from Flintlock and all of the awful memories associated with the city, but an opportunity for his mum to run her very own business.

Fortunately, his family is willing to give it a try. But is the Dollar Program too good to be true? The homes are in horrible shape, and the locals are less than welcoming. Will Millville and the dollar house be the answer to the Grovers’ troubles? Or will they find they’ve traded one set of problems for another? From the author of Small as an Elephant and Paper Things comes a heart-tugging novel about guilt and grief, family and friendship, and, above all, community. -Goodreads

Long read but definitely worth it. There were a lot of messages/themes within this book. However, the biggest one that bothered me the most or should I say affected me the most was how the adults treated the new families, specifically the children.

The whole purpose of those families moving into these crap houses, is to fix them up and bring business into a dying a community. But the town, which voted for each family, are fairly rude and disrespectful to new comers. This occurs throughout the entire book and it really bothers me. New comers to a town, school, work anything is very hard to deal with it. It is even worst when people generally don't want you there. I felt so bad, mostly for the kids, who were being call the dollar kids by the adults. 

The shooting of Abe is an important part of the book but it stays a bit in the back burner. It's the elephant in the room that doesn't exactly show itself all the time but you know it is there. When the truth comes out and that guilt is released, you exhale because its the tension within the novel and you're just happy to let it go. 

Overall, I enjoyed the book. It is simple but then complicated (in a good way) with overlapping issues that push the reader's involvement on a emotional level. You are able to connect to the characters, not just Lowen but to everyone in the family and that is a hard thing to do as a writer knowing that more than likely adults will read your book.

I would recommend this read, especially for kids who need to see grief play out and see a different way to deal with your past and what looks like your future. 

3 Pickles

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This book will make you cry! The Dollar kids all moved to Millville with their families for a fresh start, but Lowen is the only kid who sought this out in particular. Lowen needed to get away from all of the places and people in the city that reminded him of his guilt over the murder of his friend Abe. All the Grover family has to do is fix up a run-down house and join the sports teams. But it takes a lot more than that to become part of Millville, where new and different are also strange and unwelcome. Lowen struggles to work through his sadness and pain by drawing a comic about the day he sent his best friend out to be murdered. All of the Dollar House Families struggle to fit in, build new lives, and finish their houses. When things get really difficult, Lowen and the other Dollar Kids must band together along with the residents of Millville to help out the one person who made sure they all felt unwelcome.

The Dollar Kids is great as an SEL book, dealing with grief, culture shock, loss, moving, making friends, and having a parent that isn't around. A great pick for libraries, teachers, and parents.

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It is pretty remarkable how the author weaves together the stories of so many characters in this one book. I found myself really liking some characters and not liking other characters too much, which means the characters were brought to life for me. I enjoyed seeing how the actions of the characters revealed it could be traced back to something that has happened earlier showing how background can impact the choices we make. I was happily surprised by the ending!

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I like a number of the elements in this book. I like seeing this severely economically depressed town, the levels of poverty and desperation. These are folks barely getting by but they still have their pride. They love their town and their traditions. They resent the need for help and the people who are providing it, giving context to their treatment of the Dollar families. And I appreciated that while the new families introduce a new level of diversity, they don't come in and teach the small town people a better way of life. They're not opening the town's ignorant eyes. If anything, they're all learning from each other. They're all learning new ways to approach life. I struggle with some of the plot elements, which I found a bit too convenient, and some characterization quirks that seemed from the wrong time period. Most of the plot focuses on finding your place in a new town, but the heavier topics of grief and guilt don't get forgotten.

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Buying a house for a dollar seems like a great idea, but is the price worth the cost? Lowen finds that this town has just what he needs. I found the characters to be very realistic.

The town was not very welcoming, at first. Would they ever welcome the families of the Dollar Kids? The artistry and dialogue were very interesting. My 6th graders will really enjoy this book.

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The Dollar Kids by Jennifer Richard Jacobson is a wonderful story! I fell in love with the family from the moment I started reading! There are so many parts of this story that I don’t know where to start! Themes of poverty, grit, determination, family, friendship and perseverance prevail. You will immediately love Lowen and you will be able to hear his mom’s accent as she speaks. I appreciated the diversity of the characters and the manner in which the author was able to weave their identities into this story. This family took a chance to build a new life and found three other families doing the same as they purchased their dollar houses. One thing after another presents itself and the challenges are more than what the family expected. This is a heartwarming story that will stay with you long after you finish reading. The author is a wonderful and skilled storyteller who effectively uses her words to paint the vivid picture of the town and each of the characters found there. Definitely a book to add to your bookshelf!

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The Dollar Kids is a middle grade story about friendship, grief, and forgiveness. Lowen is a 12-year-old boy mourning the loss of his younger friend. Abe was constantly around, offering advice or friendly criticism as Lowen worked on his comic strips to the sound of his friend's constant babbling in the background. When Abe is shot, Lowen feels responsible and, as he won't admit why he feels this way to others, he is stuck with his blame with no one to come alongside and shoulder it with him and speak truth to him.

The Grovers, in an effort to reset the whole family, apply to purchase a $1 home in a small town that has struggled to survive since the mill closed. The Grovers gladly leave their city behind to start over when they are chosen as one of four families. The agreement for the $1 homes hinges on enough repairs being made before the end of the year.

Lowen has turned his back on art, as it's too raw. But throughout the book we get little snippets of comic strips as he uses that medium to process his grief. The illustrations are lovingly done and fit the text well.

Some of the plot points seemed forced -- the family has a litany of reasons for why they can't accomplish house repairs and the mom's success (or lack of it) in her pasty shop seems hot and cold. However, I was touched at the close of the book, and I did find truth in Lowen's struggle with how much to engage in forming new relationships when he sees himself as a bad friend to have.

I am a creative person. As such, I dabble in new hobbies and well remember the struggle of my first knitting attempt, or how long it took me to throw clay successfully on a wheel or to spin something that looked legitimately like yarn, I recall how my brain knew intellectually how it was supposed to come together even as my hands failed at the execution. The trick is to stick with it and not give up. I resonated with Lowen's observation about the essence of creating:

"To become good at something, you had to be willing to live through the maddening time when you don't have the skills, when you don't come anywhere close to what you can picture in your head. You try, you struggle, your performance stinks. You fail. A lot."

I think this is a solid book, even as I admit that I never fully entered the world.

(I received a free digital ARC of this book from NetGalley and Candlewick Press in exchange for my honest opinion.)

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They live in the city in an apartment but Lowden reads about a town that is selling run down houses for a dollar. You have to have three children to help with the sports teams and you have to bring the houses up to safety standards. They apply, and they get picked...

Candlewick Press and Net Galley let me read this book for review (thank you). It has been published and you can buy a copy now.

His mother sets up a Cornish Pastry shop and is doing fairly well at sales. Then they drop off. The restaurant next door is competing with them and changes their hours to match the pastry shop. The income she thought she could contribute to house repair is gone.

Not only that, all the children that came in are referred to as dollar kids and are not included with in other kid's groups.

As they continue to live there, they enjoy living in the small town. They might not have many friends, but they have each other. And the kids work on the house with their parents.

It looks like they will lose their home because they can't get the repairs done in time, but they help an old man whose house is facing foreclosure. And miracles do happen...

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The Dollar Kids by Jennifer Richard Jacobson is a heartfelt and unique story. Following the traumatic death of his friend, Lowen Grover encourages his family to leave their urban life and apartment to live in small town Millville, where they are selling several homes for one dollar each in order to bring people into their dying town. The caveat being that the families have to do all necessary repairs on the home. The struggles the families face were realistic and reflected the viewpoint of both the townspeople and the newcomers. I loved the twist of Lowen’s mother being English and starting up the Cornish Eatery (selling Cornish pasties) in this small rural town. Reading the descriptions of the food made me hungry every time. It was also painfully realistic watching Lowen avoid new friendships while realizing he needed them. When he finally opens himself up to friendship, we are able to see so much more to his character. One of my favorite aspects of this book is that we get to know so many of the townspeople. As Lowen gradually unfolds, so does the town. I loved the ending - the empathy that Lowen and the other children show, the family relationships, the cooperative efforts, and the changes in so many of the characters. I love the sense of hope that the reader is left with at the end, after so much uncertainty and conflict throughout the story. And my review would be incomplete if I didn’t mention Lowen’s comics that are sprinkled throughout, depicting so much of his inner struggle and how he is processing what happened to his friend. I also loved the theme of discovering your own talents while being willing to try something new, whether that is sports, art, music, cooking, building, or fashion design. I look forward to sharing this book with my students and colleagues.

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I enjoyed this unique book about a family who buys a run down house in a former mill town for a DOLLAR! Despite being a over a whopping 400 pages long, this story is immersive and perfectly paced. There's always action, which is something that can be lacking for me in very long books.

I really liked all the characters and especially the way this book handles a child's grief and guilt about the death of his friend. Would definitely recommend this one!

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