Elvis, Me, and the Postcard Winter

Gr 5 Up–On Vancouver Island, ­December of 1978—just over a year after Elvis ­Presley’s death—Truly Bateman receives postcards from a touring Elvis impersonator who ­offers her hope. After her ­alcoholic mother Clarice flees with Truly’s lemonade-stand money, Truly finds family with Salish Elder and Eagle Shores ­Trailer Park’s owner Andy El, her new puppy Gracie, and Andy El’s grown ­nephew Raymond, who ­becomes her guardian. However, just as Elvis sends ­Truly a guitar, Raymond teaches her chords, and she begins to play and sing with Andy El’s granddaughters Linda and ­Agnes, her newfound safety is compromised. ­Clarice returns and wants Truly back. In Gentile’s emotionally resonant sequel to Elvis, Me, and the Eagle Shores Trailer Park, Truly has enough to process as a middle school girl navigating a new family, math, making friends, and learning music. But when her mother ­returns, she endures ­conflicting feelings, and ultimately, finds her real home while realizing surprising emotional truths. The novel is well plotted while portraying an honest narrative about neglect and Indigenous families enduring financial hardship, prejudice, and discrimination. Gentile presents dynamic, empathetic relationships among Truly’s friends and family who have endured much hardship. Although there are moments when Truly’s desire to move back toward a life with her mother develops a bit quickly, this engaging middle grade novel offers hope to its readership.