Bigger Than a Bread Box by Laurel Snyder
Realistic Fiction/Magic; 226 pages
Devastated when her parents separate, twelve-year-old Rebecca must move with her mother from Baltimore to Gran’s house in Atlanta, where Rebecca discovers an old bread box with the power to grant any wish — so long as the wished-for thing fits in the bread box.
Sam’s review:
Rebecca doesn’t have a perfect life in Baltimore, but she has a best friend and knows the routine. Her father has lost his teaching job and responds by curling up on the couch with beer. When her mother loses patience with him and takes Rebecca and her little brother Lew to their grandmother’s in Atlanta, Rebecca is devastated. She hates her mom and misses her dad, though her grandmother does her best to keep things positive and Lew is a jewel. Rebecca seeks solace in her grandmother’s attic and discovers a special bread box. She takes it back to her bedroom and casually wishes for sea gulls, birds from Baltimore that she misses. When two gulls appear in the bread box, she knows that she has some magic, but will it help her with her family trouble and problems at school? The blend of real life with magic adds an interesting “What if?” dimension to this book, and the magic is critical for the plot. I thought that this combination put some strain on the plot, but it is Rebecca that makes the book worthwhile reading. Her honest and heartfelt struggles pulled me in to the story and held me there.