A Patron Saint for Junior Bridesmaids

Gr 4–8—In addition to moving from Minnesota to North Dakota over the summer, middle schooler Mary has the distinctly important responsibility of serving as her cousin Eden's junior bridesmaid/maid of honor. While her parents prepare the new house in North Dakota, Mary and her younger brother are sent to stay with their grandmother in St. Paul to help prepare for the wedding. A model student and well-behaved daughter, Mary knows that she can help her cousin, who suffers from severe social anxiety, by corralling her very spirited, very overbearing grandmother while keeping a big secret of her mother's. Mary also has a big indiscretion hanging over her head—before she left her school in Minnesota, she punched Brent Helzinski in the face and doesn't want to talk about it. Oh, and then there's the cute boy next door who keeps distracting her from her very important wedding duties. It's a lot to handle. While the explanation of why Mary punched Brent in the face, which is hinted at throughout the story, fails to pay off, this would be a serviceable choice for libraries searching for faith-based novels to add to their collections. Catholic traditions and references feature heavily here.