Delia Owens’ first novel was published in 2018, after she’d already written three non-fiction accounts of her life as a wildlife scientist in Africa and won the John Burroughs Award for Nature Writing. “Where the Crawdads Sing” remains on the bestseller list and for good reason; the woman can write! This book is a beautiful evocation of life in the North Carolina low country, from tiny shells to the most magnificent of birds.

Raised in a dilapidated shack in the marshes, Kya Clark learns to fend for herself in childhood after her drunken and abusive father has driven the rest of the family away. She absorbs nature, building a collection of flora and fauna, then adding paintings and words over the years until she is able to produce enough material for a reference book. Along the way, she has learned to read and write and “count past 29” from Tate, one of the very few townspeople she allows in, and their relationship grows until he leaves for the University in Raleigh. What happens after that? Don’t put this off, as I did, and let yourself sink into the complexities of nature and the human heart.

For those who are old enough to have made the acquaintance of Ramona Quimby through Beverly Cleary’s delightful stories, take heart; Ramona has a contemporary in the name of Ryan Hart. Both stories are set in Portland, Oregon, and both feature similar life circumstances: Ryan’s father loses his job, but a new one necessitates a move to a smaller house with a smaller paycheck. How Ryan navigates a new neighborhood and changed circumstances-grocery shopping is much more deliberate now-make the book resonate with what’s happening right now. And to add to that Ryan finds it hard to explain to her new girlfriends why her dark, curly hair changes texture when they go swimming.

Thank heaven the world of children’s literature is helping us cope with family and societal issues right now. And if you’ve never read the “Ramona” books, there’s still time! Oh, it’s “Ways to Make Sunshine” by Renee Watson.