What do You think about Needle And Thread (2007)?
Reviewed by Marta Morrison for TeensReadToo.comI read my first MAIN STREET title in the fall of last year and was delighted with it. I have since recommended it to many of my students. I just finished NEEDLE AND THREAD, the second of the series, and fell in love with it all over again. Flora and Ruby are two sisters who have come to live with their grandmother after their parents died in a car accident. Grandmother owns a sewing shop, which Flora loves. This story picks up a few days after the first one ends. The four girls: Flora, Ruby, Olivia (Flora's best friend who lives next door), and Nikki (the girl from the wrong side of the tracks), head off for school. They love their teachers and Ruby becomes very involved with Camden Falls by joining the community kids chorus, taking dance lessons, and getting the lead in the school play. Flora doesn't feel as connected, as she seems to miss her old life a little more than her sister. I loved the way the Grandmother would swear by using phrases that I have used such as "All my stars!" The story also includes many serious subjects that children of today have to face. The chapters about Nikki's family made me sad but also glad that they weren't written with a heavy hand. I so like these books that I intend to have all of them for my 5th-grade classroom and encourage all the girls to read them. Thank you, Ms. Martin, for creating a series which speaks to the children of today.
—Jennifer Wardrip
