Just Under the Clouds, is told in Cora's twelve year old voice. Cora trys really hard to be strong for her family, even though she is grieving the loss of her Dad and struggling to work through problems at school. Cora proves that she can do hard things. I loved that Cora loved trees and that she was a friend to her little sister. A great middle school read about, loss, friendship and family. Once I picked this book up, I just kept on reading, the story will stay with me for awhile.

With the backdrop of the family's homelessness, Cora must learn to appreciate each place her family lives. The one thing she loves most is mapping her surroundings, especially the trees. This is a love she learned from her deceased father. After being placed in the remedial math class she becomes very upset with herself, but later learns she just needs extra help. Math begins to make sense to her. Finding her father's favorite tree is her goal. When she finally finds it and is able to climb it she does something she regrets. But even through the regret of not living up to her responsibility she begins to appreciate her family and their situation even more. This is a great book that shows readers that life will have many ups and downs. It is important to understand how to deal with them and look to the clouds. Life is always moving in one direction or another and it is what you see in those clouds/life that counts. I would recommend this book to everyone. I will be purchasing this one for my classroom!

This is a really sad story about a girl named Cora who is responsible for her younger sister, Adare, who has an unnamed disability (but behaves in surprising and often inappropriate ways). Her mother works a lot, her dad has died, and her family finds themselves homeless. Cora is a scientist but is struggling with math, she wants a place to live safely and they end up with a family friend, which seems good to Cora but her mother thinks the friend meddles too much. I found the story compelling but a bit confusing-the mother character wasn't fleshed out enough to understand her motivations and so she often seemed irresponsible. Cora vacillated between being the adult and being a kid. The whole story felt like it was trying to cover too much ground.

This is one of those books that opens your eyes to the issues of the homeless. With her mother and sister, Cora, the main character who is a child, moves from shelter to shelter after her dad’s death, but all are temporary and none is truly theirs.

Cora is a budding naturalist, due to her father’s field journal and interest in botany. She painstakingly documents all the tress around her in her “tree book”. The author has done some great research about the nature that lives in Brooklyn, naming varieties of trees that are new to me.

The reader sees a variety people through her eyes: an old friend of her mom’s who lives a life of relative luxury; a homeschooled new friend who lives on a houseboat ; a building of artists; as well as her sister, Adare, who is “special.” Adare has a magical way of interacting with the world.

This is a great book for middle readers — and one who should give them an empathetic view of the world not all see. I would highly recommend this book and give it five stars.

Thank you to #NetGalley and the publisher for a pre-publication ebook in exchange for an honest review.

This book tackles many difficult subjects with grace and care. I am looking to add this book into some of my social justice units, as it will help facilitate discussions with my students on a number of important topics.

Cora is big sister to a special needs sister. She's responsible for watching her after school until her mother picks them up at a park so they can go to a homeless shelter. They're dad died last year and mom's trying to find them a home. Sweet story and could be highly relatable to some of our students. Thanks to Net Galley for the advanced readers copy!

Since the death of her father, Cora, her mother, and her sister Adare have been homeless, never living in one place for very long. At the time that this book takes place, Cora is very concerned: about how she is doing in math, about her family's lack of a permanent home, and about Adare, who has special needs. While these concerns weigh heavily on Cora, Sarno handles each with care, and tenderness. This is coupled with the power of both old and new friendships. Willa, a friend from Cora's mother's childhood, provides a place of refuge for the family after a particularly challenging event. At school, Cora meets Sabina, a girl whose family has moved from place to place in a houseboat, and whose story parallels her own. The family's struggles may be painful for readers, but are ultimately resolved in a way that seems both realistic and true to the story's characters. Just Under the Clouds is a beautifully-written novel, which will hopefully encourage understanding and empathy in young readers.

I adored the characters in the book. I think this is a middle grade must read. There are kids out that are dealing with a lot of things at home that you may not know are going on, like not having a real home. Growing and surviving as a family when there are struggles like these is hard. And trying to find your place in the world is even harder. This was a touching read. And I felt for the characters. A must buy for anyone with middle grade readers.

Just Under the Clouds was a sweet middle-grade contemporary novel. It painted a vivid picture of the setting and a narrator with a thoughtful and genuine voice.

3.5 stars.

This was a really cute, sweet middle grade story. The main character, Cora, was a fun narrator to follow, and I think a lot of middle grade readers would relate to her and her thoughts.

I enjoyed getting a perspective of a homeless child. I think this is a topic that is lacking, especially for middle grade readers. This book was a great look at the topic without getting too much into the dark, gritty reality which might be hard for younger readers.

However, this lack of depth of the topic made the book less enjoyable for me as an adult reader. I felt like some thoughts were repeated too many times (Adare was different, especially) and others were glossed over too quickly. While this did impact my enjoyment, I do think it would go unnoticed by someone in the demographic the book is intended for.

Thank you to Netgalley for an eARC of this story in exchange for my honest opinion.

Cora carries the weight of the world on her shoulders as she tries to navigate through challenges that are not ordinary for a twelve year old. After the passing of her father six years earlier, Cora clings to his journal of secrets of growing things. Her mother must work long hours leaving Cora to care for and protect her sister with special needs. I highly recommend this beautiful story of friendship, family and discovering who you are in the universe.

A very sweet story, moving. It's about sister's, parent's, and friendship. The author does a great job of telling "home is where the heart is".

E ARC from Edelweiss Plus



Cora's mother has struggled to keep a roof over Cora and her sister Adare's head ever since the death of their father six years ago. This can be a challenge in New York City, even though the mother has given up her artwork and is working in a store. Cora does fairly well in school, although has been moved around so much that she struggles to make friends. Adare had a lack of oxygen at birth and has a host of unspecified challenges, mainly characterized by not focusing on the present, and occasionally holding her breath. When their last shelter is broken into, the family moves in with Willa, who is from the same town in Texas as their mother, but doesn't exactly approve of her choices. Cora finds the nice apartment, and taking the subway, to be interesting, and she is open to making some friends. Sabina is friendly, and lived near the shelter, so she seems safe. It turns out that her family is also a little unusual, and they live in a boat on the canal. Cora is very interested in trees, since her father worked in the parks and left her a notebook of his sketches and information about trees. When she finds the particular "tree of heaven" that he was studying, she wants to climb it to feel closer to him. Things with Adare get out of hand, however, and when she goes missing, Cora must come to terms with her past and present and find a way forward.

Strengths: The author MUST be drawing comparisons with A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, with the poverty and instability, the beloved father, and the "tree of heaven". There need to be more books about students who are not comfortably middle class, so that readers can either see themselves or understand others a bit more. Cora's experiences are realistically and sympathetically done, and the book is short and moves quickly, which is never a bad thing in a middle grade novel!
Weaknesses: It seemed odd that Adare, at age ten, would not have been identified with a particular condition, even with the family's instability. Also, the grieving for the father takes up more of the book than I would like.

What I really think: There is a delicate balance of things my readers like in a sad book. They like lots of descriptions of what life is like, but they are not as fond of the character's introspection about their situation, if that makes sense. (I spend a large part of my day involved in the nuances of what students want in a book!) This isn't bad, but it's half a bubble off of what my students want, somehow. I will probably purchase it, and this is certainly a great book to look at for most collections.

Walk through a few weeks in the life of Cora.

For me March 21st is special b/c it is my oldest's birthday. For Cora, while I wouldn't call it special, has huge meaning to her as it is the date her father died.

Cora is a 12 yr old seventh grader having a hard time finding a place in this life as well as in math. She carries her fathers Tree Book and loves to draw and document various trees in her world.

Since her father's death, her home life has been unstable. She is in charge of making sure her younger sister Adare makes it from school to "home".

The journey is quick, heartfelt, and at one point heart-wrenching.

This book really made me wish I knew what my own kids thought at times.

I really enjoyed this book! I felt for the characters and just wanted them to be ok (with a place to call home). It made me sad for Cora, but hopeful that she'll make a better life for herself. I look forward to the next book by Melissa Sarno.

Just Under the Clouds was about homelessness as seen through the eyes of a twelve year old, Cora Quinn. But it was also about discovery, friendships, and acceptance of life…and what you see in it for yourself and your family.This was a very moving story, especially in terms of Cora’s relationship with her special needs sister, Adare, who experienced life and all its wonder from a different and positive perspective.
Overall, this was a good read with a relevant, interesting plot.

Writing: 4.5 Characters: 5 Plot: 4.5

This is one of those books that opens your eyes to a completely fresh perspective. Cora is a 12-year-old girl who is technically homeless. Along with her mother and sister, she moves from placement to placement in South Brooklyn. Some placements are better than others, and some almost begin to feel like home, but all are temporary and none is truly theirs. They began this sojourn 6 years before, when her father died suddenly of a too large heart.

Cora is a budding naturalist. She carefully documents all the plants and trees she finds in each of the places they live, keeping note in her father’s field journal which she calls her “Tree Book.” Through her observations and records, we are exposed to aspects of nature that I wouldn’t have known existed in these urban settings. Frankly, I had never heard of the Red Hook and Gowanus sections of Brooklyn and I was fascinated reading about them from within Cora’s story.

We also see a panoply of different people through her eyes: a new friend who lives on a houseboat and was home schooled for most of her life; an artist building a giant, slightly jagged, heart in an old warehouse; an old friend of her mother’s who lives a life of relative luxury near by; and her sister, Adare, who is “special.” Cora hates that word because “when it comes to Adare, nobody can get enough of the word special.” Adare was deprived of oxygen as a baby and is certainly different, but there is more to Adare than the label implies — she has a magical way of interacting with the world.

This is a real gem — one of the best young reader books I’ve read in a long time. An honest and absorbing story about a young girl seeking to belong. As a fun aside, in the acknowledgements I found out that Sarno’s agent is none other than Rebecca Stead, one of my favorite children’s literature authors. An excellent recommendation!

This is a lovely, poignant, heartfelt MG which gives a rare view on poverty and homelessness for MG readers. It has a wonderful sense of place and a beautiful voice.

I think this is an important book. It doesn't overreach in vocabulary or characterization or realism, but it talks about youth homelessness (which is both more common and different than we would think) and intellectual disabilities in a relatable way. I do wish that the plotline about Cora's math skills had ended in a more realistic way (I understand that the teaching style of the original class was the issue, but going from understanding nothing after most of the school year to understanding the concepts in one day seemed a little far-fetched) but overall it was both an enjoyable read and a book covering important issues.