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From Horn Book

July 1, 2022
At school Marty keeps a low profile to conceal the difficulties of his home life: a single mother who hoards and who lives with agoraphobia. Gracie comes from the prosperous side of the tracks but has challenges of her own: a busy, neglectful single dad and hearing loss. On the plus side, Marty has a warm, eccentric grandfather who gardens and encourages Marty's dream to one day visit the Eiffel Tower, and Gracie has a full complement of confidence. They also, increasingly in this story of a growing friendship, have each other. Just when readers think they know what familiar middle-grade-fictional territory they are in, Welsh writer Lewis throws a curveball toward magical realism and tall tale. The seed that kindly Grandad gave Marty for his birthday grows into a gigantic pumpkin, and Grandad decides to turn it into a boat and sail with Marty and Gracie to Paris to see the Eiffel Tower. The narrative tension switches from that of unreliable parents and school bullies to pumpkin-craft-threatening waves in the English Channel. With lots of help from a supportive community, the three succeed in their odyssey and the theme of following your dream (no matter how loopy) is made concrete. The two modes of storytelling don't entirely mesh, but the total effect is immensely likable. Sarah Ellis

(Copyright 2022 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

From Booklist

May 1, 2022
Grades 4-6 Marty's mother, who struggles with hoarding, works hard to clear out the house, only to relapse, weeping and dragging everything back inside. The next day, Marty moves into his grandfather's small apartment for a while. When Grandad gives him a large seed for his birthday, the amount of enthusiasm the boy conjures is proportional to his love for his grandfather, a gardener and inventor with big dreams. Marty has recently made his first real friend: Gracie, an aspiring dancer who copes well with deafness thanks to her lipreading skills and cochlear implant. Gradually revealed to Marty and Gracie, Grandad's latest mad scheme involves a gigantic pumpkin and a perilous journey. Lewis creates interesting characters, young and old, and vividly portrays them with well-chosen words. Beguiled by Grandad's charm offensive at a parent-teacher conference, the school administrator is described as "looking like she'd been in an accident with a charismatic steamroller." The well-paced story gathers momentum as it moves toward the fulfillment of Grandad's mysterious plan through a grand adventure, and it concludes with contentment and hope.

COPYRIGHT(2022) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

From Kirkus

March 1, 2022
Coping with his unwell mother, English boy Marty starts believing in dreams when he receives a special seed. Before leaving when Marty was 4, his dad gave him a pocket-sized model of the Eiffel Tower. Since then, Marty has longed to visit Paris, but life with his mother, a compulsive, reclusive hoarder, causes him to repress his dreams. To escape the mountains of stuff at home, Marty visits his eccentric, optimistic grandfather at his garden plot. One day, Grandad gifts Marty a mysterious striped seed, promising him that seeds contain magic. While planting it, Marty feels an electric shock run through his hand and arm. The seed sprouts quickly and, thanks to Grandad's special seaweed fertilizer, grows into what Grandad excitedly claims will be the world's largest pumpkin--which he plans to scoop out, equip with an outboard motor, and use to travel to France. Marty begins to believe in Grandad's enthusiastic, improbable plans as the magically massive pumpkin swells. Marty's credibly realistic and daunting issues at home, school, and with his new friend, Gracie, contrast vividly with Grandad's hilarious efforts to nurture the pumpkin and enable his grandson's dreams. Their attention-getting, over-the-top adventures as they try to cross the English Channel in a pumpkin prove nail-biting and heartwarming. Gracie is deaf and aspires to be a dancer; she lip-reads and has a cochlear implant. Main characters default to White. An amusing, delightful celebration of the transformative power of positive thinking and following your bliss. (Fiction. 8-12)

COPYRIGHT(2022) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.