Reviewed by Sally Kruger aka "Readingjunky" for TeensReadToo.com
After Iris lost her mother to tuberculosis, she spent all of her free time working in the family shoe store. She planned on spending even more time working with her father once school was out for the summer. Much to her surprise, Iris learns that her father has other plans.
Iris is going to be taking the train to live with a doctor and his aging mother for the summer. She will be helping with patients and caring for the old lady. While she is away, someone else will be running her father's store, while he and his girlfriend spend time in Kansas City opening a new store.
Iris finds herself living in a strange town with people she's never met. It is painfully obvious that she doesn't know the first thing about housekeeping and cooking, much less about helping the doctor care for patients. Fortunately, Dr. and Mrs. Nesbitt understand and are willing to give her time to adjust. What follows is a summer filled with new and different experiences.
It is soon clear that Mrs. Nesbitt is not as helpless and ailing as Iris thought. Young Iris seems to be just what the doctor ordered. His mother and Iris become fast friends as she teaches Iris the things she missed due to the early death of her mother. Iris feels a sense of family she has always missed, and it allows her to discover just how strong a person she really is.
Author Barbara Stuber creates Iris's story using both humor and tragedy. CROSSING THE TRACKS illustrates how Iris takes what appears to be an uncomfortable and unwanted situation and turns it into the experience of a lifetime. Readers will be touched by Iris as she changes from a shy, unsure young girl into a confident young woman.
After Iris lost her mother to tuberculosis, she spent all of her free time working in the family shoe store. She planned on spending even more time working with her father once school was out for the summer. Much to her surprise, Iris learns that her father has other plans.
Iris is going to be taking the train to live with a doctor and his aging mother for the summer. She will be helping with patients and caring for the old lady. While she is away, someone else will be running her father's store, while he and his girlfriend spend time in Kansas City opening a new store.
Iris finds herself living in a strange town with people she's never met. It is painfully obvious that she doesn't know the first thing about housekeeping and cooking, much less about helping the doctor care for patients. Fortunately, Dr. and Mrs. Nesbitt understand and are willing to give her time to adjust. What follows is a summer filled with new and different experiences.
It is soon clear that Mrs. Nesbitt is not as helpless and ailing as Iris thought. Young Iris seems to be just what the doctor ordered. His mother and Iris become fast friends as she teaches Iris the things she missed due to the early death of her mother. Iris feels a sense of family she has always missed, and it allows her to discover just how strong a person she really is.
Author Barbara Stuber creates Iris's story using both humor and tragedy. CROSSING THE TRACKS illustrates how Iris takes what appears to be an uncomfortable and unwanted situation and turns it into the experience of a lifetime. Readers will be touched by Iris as she changes from a shy, unsure young girl into a confident young woman.
