This Close to Home

When she finds a photo album from when their town celebrated its annual Lakefest at her parents’ lake house, Brooke sets out to revive the event to honor her mom’s memory so her family can heal, grow and make new memories. Simultaneous eBook.
After the death of her mother, Brooke works to revitalize her town's festival in hope that it will help her sister and dad heal and allow them to begin to move on.
A young girl aims to revitalize her lake town’s annual festival to reunite her family and honor her mom’s memory in this tenderhearted middle grade novel for fans of The Summer of June and Violets Are Blue.Brooke’s mom always used to tell her, “It’s just a game.” But now that mom’s gone, Brooke is finding it hard to keep softball as just a game, when so much of her mom’s memory is woven into her favorite sport. And it doesn’t help that her older sister, Calla, has started avoiding the field, and Dad doesn’t have as much time to toss the ball in their backyard or go to all her games. Then Brooke and her best friend, Derek, come across an album full of photos from when their town celebrated its annual Lakefest, a summer picnic that brought the whole community together at Brooke’s parents’ lake houses. When she brings up the idea to revive the event, Dad and Calla shut her down, but Brooke is certain that Lakefest can bring joy back to everyone in her town. And maybe if her team of Derek and an unexpected classmate can pull off the picnic, her family can learn to heal and grow and create new memories, and Brooke can discover that she’s capable of more than she ever imagined.