When I started to write this review, I had eaten too much sugar. I was on a bit of a sugar-high-buzz that was making me a bit too “up” and slightly feeling off. So, I was nervous this book would be too sweetly reviewed or I would maybe dwell too much on how sweet it was. After all, A Friend for Lucy by Jen-Ai Elena Molineaux is a sweet book. It is also a clever story of friendship between different generations and how family can be biological or found. It is a clever story about how sisters love each other and want what is best for them. Even when one is a ghost.
So hopefully I do not go there as I mention there is a lovely tone for a more somber theme. Lucy is a ghost who sees her sister (now presenting as a grandmother-looking woman) as always alone, not going out, and is sad. Therefore, she makes it her mission to find a friend for her sister. Of course, she does, in the package of a young girl who lives in the neighborhood. The cuteness of perhaps there is a little paranormal help in getting these two seemingly different people together has the Mrs. Katz and Tush by Polacco vibe changed up.
The illustrations give an old fashioned look to things, yet work well even for a contemporary audience. It is a “grandmother” book. Meaning, it is classically looking, sounding and set up, but that does not mean it is going to turn off a today reader. Maybe it is a bit “girly” but it is not “pink and fluffy.”
Read via an online reader copy, this book is due October 2025.