Spending a wartime summer in a small beach town, two sisters find a baby on the library steps as their next door neighbor goes to deliver an important letter to his brother in the armed services. Quick assumptions complicate the plot. Warm and caring family and community insure that all works out for the best. A lovely story to read and share in these troubled times.

This was a cute WWII historical fiction about two sisters who find a baby on the steps of their local library. I think this book is a wonderful way for young readers to explore many aspects of the world during this time period. I would absolutely buy it to read with my own children!

Thank you to NetGalley and Candlewick Press for the advanced copy of The Summer We Found the Baby in exchange for my honest review!

Thank you Netgalley & Candlewick Press for the advance copy.

I really enjoyed reading this! The author did a fantastic job of keeping the characters equally simplistic and complex. It really felt like stepping into the mind of a child. Each voice was distinct and layered. It was an interesting, very sweet read, and even as an adult I kept turning pages to see what would happen with the baby and if Eleanor Roosevelt would show up.

I loved the inclusion of WWII in the narrative and the way that it was done: it didn’t seek to horrify the (presumably young) reader, but it also didn’t seek to sugar coat the feelings the kids would have felt. I especially enjoyed the inclusion of Bruno’s older brother as a character (who, even though he was away at war through the events of the book, was just as complex of a character to me as anyone with a speaking part.

Overall very well done and very enjoyable!

This was quite the interesting book - historical and a bit of a mystery as well. It starts out on the morning of a new children's library dedication and Julie and her sister Martha find a baby on the library steps. Julie, who would love a new baby sister, picks up the baby and starts to take her to a nearby army base. Bruno, a former best friend, sees this and follows. Then the story goes back to events leading up to that and we hear Julie, Martha, and Bruno's take on different things. Everything is revealed in bits and pieces until it all becomes clear in the end. It is an interesting bit of storytelling and I can see teachers working with students to dissect it. I enjoyed it.

A beautiful, simple story set in a small beach town during WWII.
4.5 stars--only because one plot element made it rather hard for me to suspend disbelief. The rest of the story--the characters, the language, the setting--hit me hard in the best of ways. It's a small story with a big emotional punch, brought about simply through the authenticity of the characters and the realness of their problems and joys.

Sometimes, I feel sad, and I think, man, if I could just take a shower, that would solve all of my problems. But it's, like, a weird time of day for showering so instead I get a snack or stare at the wall or write a book review or something.

Welcome to this book review.

So, I read The Summer We Found the Baby by Amy Hest. Here's the thing: I liked it. I didn't feel that it was well-written, but I liked it.

I think it's because I mostly liked her characters. I was curious about them. I wanted to know who they were, where they were going. I liked how the storytelling wasn't linear, too, how it jumped around a bit like This Is Us. I liked that it felt quite innocent, and yet, somehow a tiny bit foreboding. It was sweet. It was gentle. But it was real.

Perhaps the ending was a bit abrupt, or perhaps I just didn't want it to end at all (and, therefore, any ending was too abrupt). It's hard to say.

I think I requested it on Netgalley because it takes place in World War II. I wasn't really expecting to be transported back to fourth grade, reading middle-grade historical fiction novels, curled up alone in my room and wishing I could make friends with imaginary kids from a simply-complex time.

So, thank you, Amy Hest. This wasn't my favorite book, but it gave me something. Or I took something from it. Either way, thank you.

The Summer We Found the Baby is a historical fiction novel that would be a great fit for many elementary readers. Often time, historical fiction gets too complicated in text complexity. The Summer We Found the Baby keeps the text simple. This is a great story that allows younger students to access a historical text. I thought the text was interesting and fun. I think many students will enjoy this book.

I enjoyed the different narrations--and the act of piecing together the plot and gathering clues through these different perspectives. This is a novel of World War II homefront (and beachfront) that captures a close-knit community making the best of a hard (and heartbreaking) situation. Amy Hest captures the emotion and longing of those at home for the young men overseas. She also weaves in a gentle mystery and a thread of suspense (as the attention-grabbing title would suggest), culminating in a reassuring resolution.

What a sweet little historical middle grade read!

During one summer of WWII, eleven-year-old Julie and her six-year-old sister Martha are on their way to the dedication ceremony of a new children's library in Belle Beach when they find a baby on the steps. At the same time, twelve-year-old Bruno Ben-Eli is on his way to catch a train. He's got a secret mission from his brother Ben, who is off fighting in the war. But as soon as he sees Julie "kidnapping" the baby, his plans get derailed.

Amy Hest delivers this story through the three kids' points of view and it's wonderfully done. Each has a distinct voice--and Bruno steals the show. We're given a quickly paced tale of family and friends and what it means when a loved one goes off to war.

I'll read just about anything to do with WWII and this is a great story to introduce the conflict to kids. It doesn't dwell on the horrors of the war, but offers a brief glimpse into the hope, waiting, and grief of the Home Front. There is also a lovely little cameo of Eleanor Roosevelt.

Because of its relative simplicity, I think this would be perfect for the younger end of the middle grade spectrum and I'd highly recommend it to kid readers and classroom teachers alike.

Thank you to Candlewick Press and NetGalley for providing this advance copy in exchange for a review.

The Summer We Found the Baby- Amy Fest

⭐️⭐️⭐️




Bruno Ben-Eli, Julie, and Martha all spend their summer at Belle Beach, only Ben lives there year round. Julie and Martha are visiting for the summer as their dad is doing important work at Camp Mitchel. This summer is one full of adventure during WWII while Bruno waits for letters from his brother Ben.

There is a big grand opening of the children’s library in town. Julie and Martha have baked a cake for this celebration and intend on arriving early. Only when they arrive they notice a baby in a basket. Julie takes the baby and devises a plan. However, the plan goes awry when Bruno follows the two sisters with the new bundle of joy. Albeit Julie’s plan is not a great one, she sure is resourceful.

I think this story was a little on the younger side for a #middlegrade book. I could see upper elementary enjoying this story as it was a cute narrative that followed three different perspectives on the events that happened over the summer.

This book is set to publish in August 2️⃣0️⃣2️⃣0️⃣.


Thank you to #Netgalley and to @Candlewickpress for this kindle edition in exchange for an honest review.



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What a lovely tale of family, misadventure, and good deeds. Told from three points of view, I grew to care for each child. I can envision this being the first of a series of stories. It would make for a unique series set in the 1940s from a typical American perspective.

Julie and her young sister Martha are taking a cake to the opening of the new children's library in their small coastal town during WWII when they find a baby in a basket on the front steps! Unfortunately, Julie's nemesis, Bruno, also shows up and interferes with her plans to take the baby to the beach and... well, she doesn't have the best plan. Martha, who is six, is up for any adventure, and just wants to name the baby Nancy. While the three try to decide what to do with the baby, we learn about the events leading up to their discovery. Julie has written to Eleanor Roosevelt, asking her to come to the library opening. Since her own mother, who passed away when Martha was very young, was also Eleanor, she feels there is a special connection. Bruno, whose older brother Ben is in Europe fighting, is on a mission to go into New York City and find Tess, the girl that Ben secretly married before he shipped out. Ben is concerned about Tess for a special reason, but doesn't tell Ben what, just that he should bring Tess back home with him. We find out why Julie is angry with Ben, and also the reason he had to find Tess, as well as the identity of the baby.

Strengths: This reminded me a little of Carolyn Haywood's B is for Betsy books, which were written around the time this is set. Leaving babies lying about for people to find was a popular theme in books; think also about The Boxcar Children, where the children run away and live in the woods and no one seems to notice. This book was a gentle way to introduce what was going on during WWII in a way that young people at the time might have experienced it. The opening of the children's library, and especially Eleanor Roosevelt, was especially charming.
Weaknesses: The reason the baby was left outside the library seems really weird to me. I don't want to spoil things, but during the war, I think that there were a lot of young people who got married (secretly or not so secretly) and had babies, and the families were okay with it.
What I really think: I will pass on purchase, since this is a bit young for my students, but I can see it being popular in an elementary library where titles like Rylan's Rosetown or MacLachlan short novels are popular.