Memory Jars
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- $11.99
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
A young girl finds a clever way to keep her favorite things—and people—close to her forever in Memory Jars, from Caldecott Honoree Vera Brosgol.
Freda is devastated when she can’t eat all the delicious blueberries she’s picked. She has to wait a whole year before they’re back, and she doesn’t want to lose them! Then Gran reminds her that they can save blueberries in a jar, as jam. So Freda begins to save all her favorite things. But it turns out that saving everything also means she can’t enjoy anything, and Freda realizes that some things are best saved as memories.
A Booklist Editors' Choice Winner for 2021
Reviews
"Upset that she can’t eat every bucketful of blueberries she picked with her gran all in the same afternoon (“they were the best right then and they’d never be any better”), a lovably quirky girl takes “preserving” to a whole new level. Add Brosgol’s signature big-eyed characters, a touch of dark humor and a mouthwatering jam recipe, and you’ve got all the ingredients for a sequel." -The New York Times
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Young Freda lives with her sensible Gran, who reassures her when Freda can't finish eating the perfectly ripe blueberries they pick: "Calm down, French Fry," Gran says. "We can put them in a jar and save them." Sure enough, when they're made into jam and preserved in glass, they're just as luscious. Wondering if other ephemeral things can be similarly captured, Freda tries placing a freshly baked cookie in a jar, then an unmelted ice pop, before branching out to more consequential fare. Caldecott Hon-oree Brosgol (Leave Me Alone!) pursues this comic conceit right to its sinister edge, moving from laughs into thought-provoking images: in one, Freda stands on a ladder and "took the stars while she was at it." Freda's experience of grief and yearning as she remembers her late grandfather, a blueberry jam fan, gives the story an additional layer of meaning. Spreads combine vibrant color and sure, polished lines while portraying a compassionate intergenerational relationship between two Black family members. With poignant force, Brosgol's delicious fable conveys the lesson that some things must be savored in the moment. Includes a blueberry jam recipe. Ages 4–8. Author's agency: Hansen Literary.
