A Tangle of Knots by Lisa Graff

“Candence, also known as Cady is an orphan girl who lives in Miss Mallory’s Home for Lost Girls in Poughkeepsie, New York, with a phenomenal ability to bake cakes. She has no need for a timer, measurements and she can even look at a person and know “what kind of cake they are.” And Miss Mallory’s talent is to pair girls up with parents. Whenever Miss Mallory sees a couple, she knows whether that is that girl’s match or not.

Later in the story, she meets a woman who doesn’t know her own name, cannot speak, doesn’t know her age, and doesn’t have a talent that she knows of. The only thing she goes by is V. Candence also meets a girl named Marigold trying to find her talent: making pinatas, running backwards, making applesauce, gargling, doing jumping jacks, blowing bubbles, slicing garlic, stringing popcorn, organizing furniture, ect. She also meets a store owner trying to acquire her valuable talent. And there’s the powder-blue suitcase that knots them altogether. Will V ever learn who she is? Will Marigold ever find her talent? And what of the owner trying to get Cady’s talent? And will Miss Mallory ever find parents for Cady”

“You”ll be up all night with A Tangle of Knots.”

~Josh