Look Out for the Fitzgerald-Trouts: 08/15/16

Look Out for the Fitzgerald-Trouts by Esta Spalding is tween fiction set on a fictional Pacific island. The Fitzgerald-Trouts are a blended family of cast-off children who live in the car of one of their fathers.

Kim maintains a to-do list. Near the top is find a house. The youngest siblings are getting too big to comfortably sleep in the back seat. They also have a pet goldfish who sloshes around in its bowl when they drive. The car needs new tires.

In the background of their adventures to find a home are their parents: two mothers, two fathers. There is the mother who tells them to wash their hands and the mother who sometimes gives them money. There is their scientist father, lost at sea. And another father who is really more of a footnote to an already complex family situation.

But mostly the book focuses on the children's attempts at finding a home as their car rapidly becomes unsuitable. Although there's a lot of heavy stuff, the story is told with a gentle humor, almost like a fable or fairytale at times.

Five stars

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