This is the best book I've read in weeks! I go to the library almost every week. I loved this story. It is about a family that consists of Jane (the mother) and her 2 children, Molly and Michael, and Dave (the father) and his daughter, Heather.

When the family moves to an old church, everything turns upside down. Heather's mother died in a fire so the family thinks that she is just a sensitive child. I the back yard of the church, the is a graveyard. Heather later finds a ghost friend, Helen. The ghost is about to make Heather commit suicide in order to stay with Helen forever. Molly finds that it is up to her to save her annoying, bratty sister. When she does rescue Heather, she finds why Heather and Helen are such good friends. You'll just have to read the book to find out the rest.

There are two principal conflicts in the story. The first and most realistic in my opinion is Tallahassee's longing for her mother, longing to be with her. It is obvious to the reader and all the characters except Tallahassee herself that Liz is not going to pick her up anytime within the near future. Quite conceivably Tallahassee will be living with her aunt and uncle for years. Liz, like Kathy in Rainbow Jordan, loves her daughter in her own way but is not capable of taking care of her. And, like Rainbow, Tallahassee doesn't see this and regards her mother as something close to an angel. She's got a lot to learn.

The second conflict is Tallahassee's pondering as to who her father was. Liz never said. Tallahassee only knows that she isn't blonde and beautiful like her mom; she has freckles and big teeth and red hair. "You take after your father," Liz always said. Tallahassee never gave the matter much thought till she saw a photograph of Liz's long-dead childhood sweetheart who used to live in the neighborhood...and he looks just like her.

The young man, who was killed in Vietnam, does in fact turn out to be Tallahassee's father. However I think it would have been a better literary device if (a) Tallahassee hadn't been so sure and (b) Maybe he wasn't her real father after all, maybe it was coincidence. But she asked Liz when Liz came for a very short visit, and Liz told her the truth.

While the book does a good rendering of complicated family relationships and a child's love for her mother, I think it could have used some work...

Just when Elizabeth and Margaret started to enjoy blackmail they realize that they want to help Gordy. Without much enthusiasm Gordy allows them to help and for the girls, the idea of revenge fades away more and more. Gordy's family wasn't an average one and Margaret and Elizabeth see a different side of him and they learn more about what his family is like "behind the scenes." Both of the girls try to help out and they want to tell someone about Gordy's little secret but they promised not to tell a living soul. Finally, not even Gordy can stand trying to solve his problem so the 3 kids go to a loyal friend, Barbara, who helps out more than what was required.

I think that readers from ages 9- 13 will enjoy reading this book. Stepping On The Cracks teaches many valuable lessons. I definitely recommend this book to people interested in books about friendship and how friendships evolve. The main theme in this book is the importance of trust. Throughout the book, that's a quality that the characters demonstrate.

One of the reasons this book has set itself apart from others I have read is that it gives an American child's point of view. Almost all of the other books I have read have been about the Holocaust- from both Jewish and Christian children and adult's point of views. There is hardly a word mentioned about the Holocaust in this book. Battles are mentioned as letters come home, giving blow-by-blow accounts, but the main story is focused on a little war going on in College Hill.

Elizabeth and Margaret's worst enemy is Gordy Smith, and they are trying to get revenge on him for something he did. So they follow him to his "secret hideout" where they find quite a surprise- Gordy has been hiding his brother Stuart, a deserter, from his parents and the rest of the town. When Stuart gets sick, Elizabeth and Margaret join forces with Gordy to help Stuart get better and protect him from his harsh, criminal father.

Perhaps it is simply because of the times we are in now that made me like this book so much. Somehow, all the other books on World War II I have read have always seemed impossible, that such a thing could never happen again. The events of September 11th have proved that such a thing CAN happen again, and to the great country of America nonetheless. This book helped me to understand what could, but hopefully will not, happen to my life. I just hope that it never will.