The Great Good Summer — Liz Garton Scanlon

Ivy and Paul hatch a secret plan to find Ivy's missing mom and say good-bye to the space shuttle in this evocative, heartfelt novel reminiscent of "Each Little Bird that Sings" and "Because of Winn-Dixie."

Ivy Green's mama has gone off with a charismatic preacher called Hallelujah Dave to The Great Good Bible Church of Panhandle Florida. At least that's where Ivy and her dad think Mama is. But since the church has no website or phone number and Mama left no forwarding address, Ivy's not entirely sure. She does know she's missing Mama. And she's starting to get just a little worried about her, too.

Paul Dobbs, one of Ivy's schoolmates, is also having a crummy summer. Paul has always wanted to be an astronaut, and now that NASA's space shuttle program has been scrapped, it looks like his dream will never get off the ground.

Although Ivy and Paul are an unlikely pair, it turns out they are the perfect allies for a runaway road trip to Florida -- to look for Mama, to kiss the Space Shuttle good-bye, and maybe, just maybe, regain their faith in the things in life that are most important.