My One Hundred Adventures

One summer twelve-year old Jane decides that she is ready for some adventure in her life, so she decides to pray for adventures to come--one hundred of them to be precise.  What follows is an unforgettable summer that changes her life forever.  From hot-air-balloon rides to all-night car rides Adventure follows her wherever she goes.  Unfortunately, so does Trouble. 

This charming novel seems the embodiment of the old Oscar Wilde quote: "When the gods wish to punish us, they answer our prayers."  Jane lives in a small town in a house on the beach with her poet mother and her three younger siblings.  Over the course of the summer her mother's ex-boyfriends show up making her question how they live and who her father is and the local pastor takes her on bible-spreading missions that make her question religion as well.  She learns a lot of serious lessons for a girl her age, and while she is a bit precocious her narrative is believable throughout and perfect in its childhood logic.  A great book to read aloud to a child this summer or for a child to read themselves, although I'd say this book is definitely geared towards girls more than boys.

"It is inestimably comforting to have a friend, someone who is not horrified at you but with you."

"All our lives are mundane but all our lives are also poetry."
My One Hundred Adventures, by Polly Horvath.  ISBN: 9780375845826