Tight Times

Although pinching pennies is now hip, economic hardship is very real. According to the Children’s Defense Fund (www.ChildrensDefense.org), a child is born into poverty every 32 seconds in America. The following titles provide inspiration and collaboration for the entire family during tight times.

ShopSavvy (ShopSavvy.mobi) Using the camera on your iPhone or your Droid, ShopSavvy allows you to scan the barcode on a product and sends back to you comparative price information. Both online prices and local store prices appear, with additional review information available as well. Especially for big purchases, you can even check other locations for the best price. Free.

Those Shoes by Maribeth Boelts, illus. by Noah Z. Jones (Candlewick Press). Jeremy lives with his grandmother. He really, really, REALLY wants a pair of “those shoes” that everyone has in school. Grandmother says they don’t have room for “want.” only “need.” But a trip to the thrift store finds him the exact shoes he wants! Just a size too small. He gets them anyway, and the story continues. Boelts and Jones have captured that feeling of envy, obsession and satisfaction for both young and old. (5 and up)

ThredUp.com This is an online swap meet for parents. For $5, you can receive a box of gently used clothes or toys. You can send away all the outgrown kiddie stuff as well. If someone chooses your box, you don’t pay for shipping. Those well-loved toys, like in Toy Story 3, need a new place to play.

Ellie Ever by Nancy Ruth Patterson, illus. by Patty Weise (Farrar, Straus and Giroux). A young girl gets a new life after a tornado has destroyed her home and killed her father. After moving to Virginia, where her mom gets a job managing a horse farm, young Ellie gets a scholarship to an exclusive private school. Her classmates are snobby and mean to her, until a rumor begins that Ellie is a princess. The story focuses on the choices one makes being new in town and the differences between rich and poor. (7 - 10)

Kit Kittredge Although set in the past, this American Girl movie was successful in showing that even in tough economic times, dignity and character cannot be taken away. It is the poor, or those who have been poor, who understand the desperation of the situation, who will be the more generous. The portrayal of poverty and homelessness will give families something to talk about. (6 – 12)

Tell Us We’re Home by Marina Budhos (Simon & Schuster). Three 8th grade girls are thrown into friendship in a wealthy suburban town. Even though they are from diverse worlds, (Mexico, Slovakia and Trinidad), their mothers all work for their classmates’ families as housekeepers and nannies. Their friendship and their community are tested when one mother is accused of stealing. Consider this for adult book club. (12 and up)

Julie Hubble writes from Leawood.