MEMORY JARS
by Vera Brosgol
May 2021 – Roaring Brook Press / Macmillan (US)

A young girl finds a clever way to keep her favorite things–and people–close to her forever.

Freda is devastated when she can’t eat all the delicious blueberries she’s picked. She has to wait a whole year before they’re back, and she doesn’t want to lose them! Then Gran reminds her that they can save blueberries in a jar, as jam. So Freda begins to save all her favorite things. But it turns out that saving everything also means she can’t enjoy anything, and Freda realizes that some things are best saved as memories.

Vera Brosgol was born in Moscow, Russia, in 1984 and moved to the United States when she was five. Her two graphic novels, Anya’s Ghost and Be Prepared, were published by First Second, and her debut picture book Leave Me Alone! was a 2017 Caldecott Honor book. She drew storyboards for the animated films Coraline, ParaNorman, and The Boxtrolls. She lives with her dog, Omar, in Portland, Oregon, where she puts all kinds of things into jars every summer.