When Dani’s father is struggling with feeling sad and decides he needs to visit his family in Italy, he arranges for Dani to stay with her grandparents in Stockholm. Dani is missing her best friend and convinces Grandma to let her surprise Ella for her birthday by going to Northbrook, where Ella now lives. Dani will be Ella’s “best present.” Although Grandma consults by phone with Ella’s mom for the visit, events do not go as planned. Dani’s first solo train trip devolves in a cascade of misadventure that includes a lost cell phone, missed meetings, and a miserable bout of the flu. As in the earlier books in the Dani series featuring this white child and her family, the story highlights a believable slice of life in all its complications and messiness, while capturing the complexities of children’s feelings when adult actions leave them uninformed and powerless. (Ages 7–9)