Upside-Down Cake — Carol Carrick

A young boy recounts the past year of his family's life in this carefully crafted and sensitively illustrated chapter book. Soon after the narrator's ninth birthday and his dad's fortieth birthday, celebrated together with a deliciously gooey pineapple upside-down cake, Dad becomes sick. Before long it's obvious he won't be getting better. As his father grows weaker, the narrator struggles with anger, guilt, fear, and grief-emotions that intensify when his father finally passes away. Ultimately the narrator realizes that all his feelings are normal. What's more, it's okay to be happy, even to celebrate his next birthday with another upside-down cake. Basing the story on the experiences of her own family, Carol Carrick has written a moving and restorative book for any child who must confront loss.