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INTERMEDIATE FICTION
Jones, Kelly

Happily for Now

288 pp. | Knopf | May, 2021 | Trade ISBN 978-0-593-17952-9 $16.99 | Library ISBN 978-0-593-17953-6 $19.99 | Ebook ISBN 978-0-593-17954-3 $9.99
(2) 4-6 Illustrated by Kelly Murphy. Fiona aspires to be a fairy godperson, helping others to solve their own problems the way her social worker, Ms. Davis, helps her. When her mother, who struggles with addiction, checks into rehab, Fiona goes to stay with ­Great-aunt Alta, Great-uncle Tim, and Alta's daughter Becky in the small town of Cold Hope (an allusion to this book's inspiration, Stella Gibbons's Cold Comfort Farm, with occasional black-and white illustrations helping set the scene). Becky and Tim run the family bakery, which has always served the same boring menu. Alta isn't happy when Becky, with Fiona's encouragement, starts baking new recipes, but the rest of Cold Hope appreciates the new flavors. Following the fairy-godperson lessons Ms. Davis sends her by email--and aided by the offbeat residents of Cold Hope--Fiona looks for ways to assist her relatives in ­working through old grudges and to discover what makes them happy. Fiona's tendency to look at the world through the framework of fairy tales makes an effective structure for the story and creates a setting where even grouchy and eccentric Great-aunt Alta feels entirely ­plausible. Jones believably depicts Fiona as the child of an addict, with a blend of knowledge and naiveté that keeps her from seeming precocious or sentimental. The book's lower-stakes conflicts--a baking competition, Great-uncle Tim's hidden art--are treated with as much gravity as the bigger issues, making for an emotionally satisfying read.
Reviewer: Sarah Rettger | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2021

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