WHEN LIFE GIVES YOU MANGOS by Kereen Getten – A story of friendship, adventure and mystery

The setting of this story is wonderful! It's a fun read with a twist ending and supernatural elements.

Why you want to read this book…

If you’re wishing for the warmth and escape of summer, this book will take you there. I really enjoyed reading about Clara’s adventures and her secrets. Clara has a memory issue related to a mysterious event that happened last summer, leading to fears and complicated feelings about friends that unfold as the story develops. And there’s a surprising twist! 

I loved all the details of the island that we experience through Clara’s adventures—including her secret hideout.  

 

Description from Goodreads…

Twelve-year-old Clara lives on an island that visitors call exotic. But there's nothing exotic about it to Clara. She loves eating ripe mangos off the ground, running outside in the rain with her Papa during rainy season, and going to her secret hideout with Gaynah--even though lately she's not acting like a best friend.

 The only thing out of the ordinary for Clara is that something happened to her memory that made her forget everything that happened last summer after a hurricane hit. Sometimes things come back to her in drips like a tap that hasn't been turned off properly. Other times her Mama fills in the blanks...only she knows those aren't her memories and it is hard feeling like she is not like everybody else.

But this summer is going to be different for Clara. Everyone is buzzing with excitement over a new girl in the village who is not like other visitors. She is about to make big waves on the island--and give Clara a summer she won't forget.

When Life Gives You Mangos by Kereen Getten was published by Random House Children’s Books in 2020. I read an electronic version from my local library.

 

 If you’re looking for another fun or maybe spooky middle grade book to read, check out Marvelous Middle Grade Monday on Greg Pattridge's blog.