The Dollar Kids
by Jennifer Richard Jacobson
Candlewick Press
Candlewick
Children's Fiction , Middle Grade
Pub Date 07 Aug 2018
I am reviewing The Dollar Kids through Candlewick Press and Netgalley:
Lowen Grover is a twelve year old who happens to be a budding Comic Book artist. Lowen is still in shock over the fact that his friend Abe was shot and killed! When Lowen stumbles across an article that tells of a former mill town offering houses for only a dollar he can't help but think it's to good to be true but if it's true it just may be the escape Lowen needs away from Flintock and the horrible memories it holds.
Fortunately his family is willing to give it a try, but is this all to good to be true? They soon discover the homes are in extremely poor condition and the locals do not really welcome them.
Will the Dollar home be the answer to the Grover’s troubles or will it just add to them?
I give The Dollar Kids five out of five stars!
Happy Reading!

Millville is a dying town. The mill has closed, businesses have left, and the school is struggling to stay open. To help encourage new families to move to Millville, the city offers a select few homes for only one dollar. Families apply and those selected are granted a home by lottery.

Lowen's family takes the plunge and applies for a house. His sister, Anneth, is not very keen on the idea but his parents try anyway. They end up being selected and decide to give it a go, knowing that a change may help Lowen move on after his friend Abe died.

The transition is not pain-free and the repairs needed to be done by a deadline are rather daunting. Given the low enrollment, sports is not optional but rather expected. So Lowen finds himself trying to learn soccer and basketball when he'd rather do other things (and not have to be compared to his athletic older brother).

Not all the families find they can make a living in Millville. Lowen's family struggles to keep open a new restaurant while their dad holds down his previous job and only sees his family on weekends. As the deadline approaches and the repairs multiply, Lowen is wondering if they'll have to call it quits and admit defeat.

The Dollar Kids is a fantastic tale of a family pulling together to sacrifice and work hard to make a better life for themselves. They experience the challenges of being newcomers in a very tight-knit and not always welcoming community. I loved seeing how the characters develop through the story: older brother, Clem, learns some home skills to help with repairs; Anneth blossoms as she is encouraged to use her gifts, and Lowen, works through his grief while trying new things.

Kudos for a middle school book that is not laced with vulgarity. There are some sibling tensions but nothing out of the ordinary; the overall impression is of a family that sticks together through tough times. One of the Millville transplants is a same-sex couple but they play a very minor role in the story. If you were reading the book out loud, that portion could easily be edited. Or it could provide an opportunity to discuss with your kids some of the families they may encounter in life. I appreciated that it was not a significant part of the storyline.

Disclaimer: I received a free digital copy of The Dollar Kids from NetGalley for the purpose of review. No other compensation was received.

The Dollar Kids follows Lowen and his family as they decide to move to Millville, a town offering new families homes for $1 in exchange for strengthening a dying community. Meanwhile, Lowen deals with grief and guilt over the death of his best friend, leaving him ready to make a move to a new place. This is a story about moving from a big city to a small town that isn’t sure it wants you. It’s about forgiveness and accepting help. I loved the character development of Lowen and those who surround him in the one year the book covers. My one complaint is that this book is full of minutiae that weakens the story. I don’t need to know every tiny reason why Lowen leaves the house when, etc. I think a lot of these bits of over-explaining might go over reader-kids’ heads. On the other hand, I know some 6th grade readers that would like knowing EXACTLY what every character does at every moment.

Though I had to put this book down a couple of times because the detail overload got to me, I kept coming back because I cared about the characters and wanted to know what happened to them. The ending, though perhaps over-explained, was a satisfying one.

While I had a little bit of trouble connecting with the story and characters at the very beginning, I was quickly caught up in Lowen's struggle to overcome the guilt he felt in the death of the boy who lived across the hall, and the Grover family's struggle to start over in a small town where apparently not everyone welcomed them.

There is a lot going on in this book with it's ensemble case of characters, but I think it is generally all pulled together pretty well. I thought the idea of a family buying a "dollar house" (a foreclosed, rundown house sold for only a $1, with the stipulation the purchaser perform repairs and improvements within a year) very interesting, and though the mixed reactions from the locals were spot on: some would be welcoming, some would assume they were poor, and many would regard them with suspicion as "outsiders".

Although Lowen's father remained a bit of a stranger due to his staying in the city for much of the book, I thought the characters of the rest of the family were fairly well-developed, particularly Lowen and his mother. I could relate to his mother's dream of her own business, and to feeling like an outsider in a small-town. The story touched on so many things. Initially it seemed to be all about Lowen's guilt (which I liked seeing that he used his art to work through), but it was also very much about friendship, with Lowen finally understanding there are different types of friendship and realizing he and Abe were friends, and gradually building a friendship with Dylan. It was also about starting over, working hard, overcoming obstacles, and how a dying town finally came together and reinvented itself.

I really enjoyed this and will definitely recommend it!

The Dollar Kids was a remarkable story that I read with my 9 and 11 year old daughters during our homeschool days. We were reading two different books at one time and they picked this one to continue every single time. The other book was left until we completed this one. I won't say what the other book was, but it was also very good. The fact that The Dollar Kids kept all three of us engaged throughout says a lot. I highly recommend this book to all readers, younger and old.

I chose this book for its interesting summary... It ended up being fairly good. I didn't love the author's writing style, so it took a while for me to get into the book, but once I was in, I really enjoyed Lowen and his story. The ending took me by surprise for the most part, which is always a plus. All in all, it was an enjoyable read.

Lowen and his family apply to buy a house in Millville for $1. They are ready to move out of the city because Lowen's friend was recently killed in a shooting. When the family is accepted to the dollar program they are not all excited to move, but life in small town Millville quickly grows on the kids.

Millville needs more people. When the mill shut down a lot of people and businesses moved out. So the dollar families are selected because of their children and their skills. The kids are expected to participate in the school to help keep the sports teams going. The parents are expected to participate in the town to help revitalize it. They are also given a year to renovate their dollar houses and make them livable.

Lowen's mom starts the Cornish Eatery. She sells individual takeout pies. She chose a lunch place because the only other restaurant in town only served breakfast. But The Busy Bee obviously doesn't like competition and starts serving lunch and taking away prospective customers. So the family is struggling. The dad can't move to town right away because of the expenses of starting the restaurant and renovating the house. The kids all have to pitch in.

Lowen is also dealing with the grief and guilt of losing his friend. Living next door to the town funeral home doesn't help. But getting involved in sports and making friends does.

I will admit to struggling with this book a bit, but it ended up being worth the read. It is depressing and long. The family has so few successes throughout the novel that I really worried this was going to be one of those rare middle grade books without a happy ending. Because of the struggles the ending actually seemed a bit too happy to me.

I do believe the struggles of moving to a new town, dealing with grief and trying to start a business were very accurately portrayed. I do wonder about the reaction of the towns people though. The two characters that seemed to be the most against the dollar families were both on the town council. They were the ones that approved the program so you would have thought they would have been more supportive and want them to succeed. That was a big misstep for me.

Lowen Grover is a comic book artist, but he hasn’t drawn much after his friend was murdered during a shooting at convenience store. His parents, wondering if leaving the city would allow him to heal, applies to buy a foreclosed home for $1 in the tiny town of Millville. However, they soon wonder if the price is too good to be true.

The Dollar Kids has a soft, quiet opening as Lowen’s family applies for the house and then moves. However, the action soon ramps up as they settle into their new lives and meet their new neighbors. And what a cast of characters they are. The town librarian digs holes to bury her regrets. The school athletic coach is constantly recruiting Lowen just so his teams have enough players to officially play. The owner of the local breakfast restaurant radically alters her business to sabotage Lowen’s mother’s takeout place.

Maybe it’s because I’m a recent city transplant back to a rural area, but their reactions to Lowen and his family resonated with me. Their innate distance to new inhabitants seemed natural and even the restaurant sabotage was both frustrating and a realistic response.

At it’s core, this book is about struggle. Lowen struggles with his role in Abe’s death. The family struggles finding their place in their new community. The community itself struggles to thrive. Author Jennifer Richard Jacobson doesn’t shy away from the struggles that stem from finances, marriage, regrets, friends, and death. Yet, she skillfully keeps her characters moving into trajectories that allow them to manage these problems.

This is a quiet read, which I think fills a necessary niche in middle grade literature, and the result is something very special.

The Dollar Kids is a middle grade novel written by Jennifer Richard Jacobson, with illustrations by Ryan Andrews. It is currently scheduled for release on August 7 2018. 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?

The Dollar Kids is a story that tackles many issues, and deals with them all in realistic ways as well as heart and hope. Lowen is ready for a new start, and the idea of moving to a new town, fixing up a house, and starting a business seems like just the thing to get him mind of the tragedy that has made him give up drawing and harbor guilt. Things just do not go as plan, they all need to play sports, some look down on them while others seem to want nothing but for them to fail and leave. Thankfully, there are also some people in town that wish them well, and want to save the town. Family conflicts, sibling issues, fitting in, and being true to yourself are all huge parts of the story. I have to admit that it took me a while to become invested in the story. The set up was good, the story line interesting. However, I think the beginning pacing was a little slow, because I put the book down two or three times before finally finishing it. It was not a problem with the actual story, which I found interesting. However, I think the story did a lot more telling than showing, and I did not feel invested in the characters and town until at least half way through the story. I think that is a shame, because by the time I read the last page I was not quite ready to leave Millville and the people that live there. By that point I wanted more, but it took way too long for me to care deeply about the characters and their individual stories.

The Dollar Kids is a story with plenty of heart, and that handles some big issues with grace and hope. I enjoyed the read and think it will be a middle grade staple in school and public libraries.

Have you ever had a tragedy in your life, one perhaps that you feel responsible for?Lowen Grover is eleven-years-olds and loves nothing more than to draw, except when his younger neighbor friend bugs him to continue to change his drawings. One day he was getting on Lowen's nerves so he sent him to the corner store to get candy just so that he can have a few minutes of peace. Lowen had no idea that at that exact time a young teenager fed up with life would go on a shooting spree and kill four kids at that same convenience store. No one knows that Lowen sent Abe there to get him out of his hair and no one knows the guilt that Lowen carries. So when Lowen sees an advertisement for a town selling house for $1 in order to get people to move to the dying town, he submits and application and they are accepted. Despite the fact that his sister does not want to move, the family decides to take a chance and go. Lowen's mom is going to open up a Cornish diner, his dad is going to find a doctor to work under, his older brother, Clem, is going to become a sports star, and Lowen is going to escape his guilt. When the Grover's get to their new home things don't go quite the way they had planned. The "albatross" of a house needs so much work, the diner seems to be sabotaged every step of the way, the people are not accepting, of the dollar families, and Lowen's guilt seems to be even higher now that his bedroom overlooks a funeral home. The dollar families only have a year to get the house in order for an inspection and with everything going agains them, will the be able to stay in their new town? Do they even want to stay in the new town? Will Lowen ever get over the guilt that he feels for sending Abe to his death? Don't miss this story of family, friends, overcoming all odds, and shear determination! This is a must read for 2018!

I love this story because there are so many great lessons to learn. This story shows how a family and a town that is divided can come together with friendship and love. Another lesson is to not judge a person to quickly because the one that you think you don't like may just be the one who you need the most. It also teaches that time does heal and grief does not need to be held in. I also love how this book has Lowen's drawings throughout it so every once in a while it feels like a graphic novel. Great book!

When the small, failing town of Millville gives 5 families the opportunity to buy houses for $1, they jump at the chance and make a new start.  The children in these families become known as The Dollar Kids.  They have a deadline to fix up their dilapidated houses, or risk losing it.  The Grovers are split, with Dad continuing to work hours away, and Mum starting up her own restaurant.  Comic artist Lowen Grover is escaping the death of his friend, which he feels responsibility for, and he struggles with anxiety and guilt.  The Grover children begin to find their places in sports and friends, but it seems like the town is working against their mom's business, their ability to be a real member of their town, and the renovations to the house.  Lowen thought the dollar house would be an escape from his problems, but it seems he's traded one problem for another.

What I liked about this book was the voice.  I felt like Lowen was really well-written and the storyline was engaging, because we never learned how Lowen was "responsible" for the death of Abe until nearly the end.  This story kept me going, because I was rooting for him and the Grover family, and was upset each time something prevented their family from being successful.  Any book that tugs at my emotions and makes me teary-eyed will stick with me for awhile.  I also liked that although things did not go their way, they were still willing to give back to their new community and be the bigger people.  That's an important message for our students.  No matter how little we have, there is always someone with less.

#NetGalley #TheDollarKids Available For Purchase August 7, 2018

Lowen Grover recently lost his friend who was killed in a random shooting at a convenience store, a tragedy that Lowen blames himself for since he'd sent his friend there. When Lowen sees an advertisement for $1 houses in exchange for agreeing to fix them up, he jumps at the opportunity to leave behind horrible memories. His family agrees that it might be fun to take part in Millville's experiment to build up their declining town. They fill out an application, in hopes of being chosen to purchase one of the homes.

Lowen's mother has high hopes of contributing to the town by opening a pastry take-out shop. But when the families who are chosen to purchase houses for one dollar arrive, things don't go exactly as they'd hoped. Lowen, his siblings, and the other children come to be known as "the dollar kids." And at this point, that's not necessarily a good title. The townspeople are wary of the newcomers and most aren't too welcoming.

The newcomers find that the town needs the kids to be able to keep their school open as well as to compete in sports with other teams. And sports are a very important recreation for Millville residents.

Each of the Grover children, as well as the adults, have to figure out different ways of being accepted into the community. Mrs. Grover has a competing restaurant, which she is trying to work around and with, but the town, or at least some, are fearful and unaccepting.

What Concerned Me: At the beginning of the book I thought I could see the end coming and it would be a good book, but not too in-depth. Nope. Don't be concerned about that.

For those who might be bothered (can't imagine many) there is a reference to heaven, hell, and death.

What I Liked Most: This covers so many aspects of life: death, guilt, financial problems, accepting change, teamwork, family bonding, friendship, and the list goes on and on.

I'm not usually hooked on a middle-grade book, but after I got into this story, it kept drawing me back. The writing is very good and the intertwining of so many things never felt hard to follow or didactic. The characters are developed very well and I was able to easily envision the town of Millville.

I'm very glad I got the opportunity to receive an ARC of this book. If your kids aren't old enough to read this themselves, you might want to look through it and decide if it's something that would be good to read to them. I highly recommend it.

The Dollar Kids impressed me beyond what middle grade novels do these days, the subject matter is difficult at times but the author couldn’t have been more sensitive and conscientious about what she was writing and truly her writing was beautifully impressive and strong I loved that! I also felt she truly captured the way children think and feel and how the process of guilt, healing and grieving can be is important for kids to understand and it was written in a delicate, relatable and truly beautiful way. It was long but it’s a story filled with hope and new chapters that will stay with me. I loved the creativity that pushed this book along its unlike anything I’ve ever read. I loved the honesty in the relationships between the children’s friendships and the adults with each other. There is so much kids and adults can learn from this book. Seriously can’t thank the publisher and author enough for letting me read this in advance I loved it and I can’t wait to buy it for my 5th grader.

I love Jennifer Richard Jacobson's style of story telling. This is a unique story about fitting in and the difficulties starting over. Great for middle grades.

This book was well written and very fun to read. The characters were great and I enjoyed the world building. The author does a great job at introducing the characters and moving the plot along. There were a few things that I didn't like, but it wasn't enough to really sway me one way or the other. It's definitely a story that I can get lost in and both feel for the characters. It is definitely a go-to novel that I highly recommend to anyone who loves a great read. Definitely a highly recommended read that I think everyone will enjoy.

I really enjoy Jennifer Richard Jacobson's middle grade stuff--both Small as an Elephant and Paper Things are among my go-to recommendations for realistic middle grade fiction.

And while I enjoyed the story in this one, as well (families are allowed to purchase houses for $1 in an effort to jump-start a dying town), it suffered to some extent from pacing issues. Some chapters take place a month later, some later the same day...and because the entire story spans a year as the Dollar Kids and their families strive to improve their houses and build their businesses, some story lines seemed drawn out (mysterious Dylan, the restaurant rivalry) and some plot lines felt like unimportant fillers (the Luna story line, the excessive sports scenes).

It's definitely going in my middle school library, but it's just not as strong as some of Jacobson's other work.

I really liked this book and think it will give middle grade readers a great deal to think about. Lowen's family takes a chance on taking a house, for the price of $1.00, in a run-down and failing community. As they work hard to get a business up and running and creating home here, they meet several obstacles. In the meantime, Lowen struggles with feelings of guilt over the death of a young boy, believing that he holds some responsibility.

This is much more than a story about a Lowen’s guilt over his friend’s death. It is a story about a small town looking to get a fresh start, about town folk who don’t welcome outsiders, and about what it means to be a friend. I enjoyed the creative ways families tried to get businesses started in town and that not every family stayed. It shows that life is not perfect and does not have to be.

Story begins after a tragic accident has happened. Lowen and his family win a small town house lottery. For $1.00 they can start over as long as they can renovate & succeed in one year. Moving to a new place brings with it new friends, new experiences, new challenges, and new emotions. Time, friends, and community help heal the hole made when Lowen lost his best friend. I enjoyed this book and will definitely recommend it as a future library purchase.

I was immediately drawn to the premise of The Dollar Kids - a family is chosen for the opportunity to buy a house for a dollar in an old mill town. They go all in, each making different sacrifices in an effort to make it work. Will their hard work and efforts be enough in a town that might not want them there? The premise of community and what community is the major theme of the book. Jennifer Richard Jacobson has done a great job creating characters that are likable and relatable - Lowen struggles with grief and his own role in the death of a friend, his parents worry about finances as they struggle to repair the hosue and start a new business, his sister hates leaving her friends behind to start over. Combined with a family's desire to own their own home and the challenges they face as outsiders in a small town, the book resonated with me as a reader.

I read this book as a preview for possible book club selections for our camp next summer, and I could absolutely see our middle grade readers loving it. I look forward to reading to more of Jennifer's books!