In 1926 Portland, Oregon, eleven-year-old Lexie has been living with her grandparents since her free-spirited mother, a singer, sent her there after getting a new boyfriend. Lexie misses her mom, especially as her grandparents aren’t nearly as warm and demonstrative, not to mention fun. Lexie’s class has raised money to send a doll to Japan as part of a Friendship Doll Exchange. If she writes the winning letter in a contest, she’ll be able to accompany the doll to San Francisco, where her mom is currently living and where the ship taking the dolls to Japan will set sail. But Lexie’s nemesis, Louise, is just as determined to go, and willing to do anything to win. An emotionally satisfying work of historical fiction has predictable elements but also wonderful nuances to many of the characters. This is especially true of Lexie and her grandparents, who, she finally understands, love her with constancy, something her mother, despite genuinely loving her, is unable or unwilling to provide. An author’s note provides more information on the U.S.-Japanese Friendship Doll Exchange. (Ages 7–10)