Where Dani Goes, Happy Follows

Starred review from May 1, 2019
This, the sixth volume in a series of early chapter books featuring Dani and her friend Ella (My Happy Life, rev. 7/13, and sequels), confidently assumes an audience of loyal readers with a chatty opening phrase, Here is some more about Dani? This confidence is well placed. Once you've met these sturdy Swedish girls, you want to check in with them regularly. A bit of tidy backstory reminds readers that Dani's mother died when Dani was of daycare age and that she occasionally goes to live with her grandparents when her father (who periodically got sad ) isn't up to caring for her. During one such interval, Dani and her grandma cook up a plan for Dani to travel by train, all by herself, to visit Ella in a neighboring town. Disaster strikes when, despite careful planning, there's nobody to meet Dani at journey's end, and, stranded in the railway waiting room, she encounters bullies who steal her cellphone. Intertwining with the main plot is a subplot involving her father's ex-girlfriend, Sadie. All of this adds up to far more than the sum of its parts, with gentle humor and deep strains of resilience and kindness. Both writer and illustrator treat Dani with total respect throughout her distress and confusion. Adults are realistically flawed, and things don't necessarily work out (although, after several honest conversations Dani has with both Dad and Sadie, there is some hope that they might), but all characters are portrayed with compassion and understanding. This series just gets better and better. sarah ellis

(Copyright 2019 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

July 1, 2019
Dani (My Happy Life and sequels) and her grandma plan for Dani to travel by train to visit her friend Ella. Disaster strikes when nobody meets Dani at journey's end. With gentle humor and strains of resilience and kindness, both writer and illustrator treat Dani with total respect throughout her distress. Adults are realistically flawed, and things don't necessarily work out, but all characters are portrayed with compassion and understanding.

(Copyright 2019 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

Starred review from February 1, 2019
In the sixth installment of this Swedish chapter book series, Dani takes a train trip by herself. It doesn't go as planned.Dani is spending winter break at her grandparents' house because her father, Gianni, has become sad again and has decided to go to Rome (where he is from) without her to "think about his life." A gloomy Dani is trying to decide what to do on break when she comes up with a brilliant idea--her best friend Ella's birthday is near, and she, Dani, will surprise visit her! But Ella lives in Northbrook, and Dani does not. Not a problem for positive-thinking Dani. She simply instructs her grandmother to drive her. But her grandmother says she is having her bridge friends' dinner, and besides, the car is being serviced. Seeing Dani's disappointment, she asks if Dani is brave enough to take the train on her own. Dani is hesitant but decides that for Ella, she will do it--and she does, but things go awry. Writing with exceptional insight and humor, author Lagercrantz develops Dani's emotional maturity in this story, giving her a growing awareness of both life's complexity and adult fallibility, all the while maintaining Dani's bone-deep optimism. Illustrator Eriksson's lively black-and-white drawings add lovely empathy and show everyone's skin as the white of the paper.Nearly the best one yet, and that's saying something. (Fiction. 6-9)

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