Nine-year-old Perry, a special-needs learner at school and clearly a trial to the patience of her parents at home, has a designated activity every afternoon: piano lessons, music and movement, clarinet lessons, tutoring. Perry’s grandmother, Honora Lee, has dementia and lives at Santa Lucia, a nearby care facility. She generally doesn’t recognize Perry, or even Perry’s dad. But when Perry’s Tuesday music and movement class is cancelled, she decides to visit her grandmother every week and, as part of a project for school, to create an ABC book about Santa Lucia. Despite Perry’s struggles elsewhere, there is something just right about her interactions at Santa Lucia. She is able to engage with her grandmother and other residents without disappointment or judgment. She’s also observant, and notices small details of the lives of people who live there, some of which become part of her book. The staff appreciate Perry — they all share the same gift of accepting each one of the inhabitants of Santa Lucia for who they are now. A funny and poignant novel featuring gorgeous spot illustrations never strives to makes a point; rather, it allows the story of Perry and Santa Lucia to unfold for readers to experience and think about. (Ages 8–11)

Perry's mother and father are busy people ... they're impatient, they're tired, they get cross easily. And they think that only children, like Perry, should be kept busy. On Saturday mornings Perry and her father visit her gran, Honora Lee, at the Santa Lucia rest home, but Gran never remembers them. 'Who is that man?' Honora Lee asks when Perry's father leaves the room. After movement class is abruptly cancelled, Perry is allowed to go to Santa Lucia on Thursday afternoons. She discovers her Gran has an unconventional interest in the alphabet, so Perry decides to make an alphabet book with the help of Honora and the others. Soon everyone is interested in Perry's book project. The ACB With Honora Lee unfolds with characteristic warmth, quirky, surprising humor and a rich cast of 'residents'. The story is a meditation on kindness and patience and acceptance; that of the very young and the very old. It's a story that will resonate with echoes of recollection for many -- from Perry's endearing perspective on the adult world to the embracing kindness of those who care for the elderly.