A Corner of the Universe by Ann M. Martin is one of my personal favorites. This book is about a girl, Hattie whose summer started off as any other summer, but later finds out she has a mentally ill uncle that changes her summer. This new change in her life, opens up her eyes that, there is more to the world then just her small town. Throughout the book, Hattie spends time getting to know her newly found uncle. Hattie learns to love her uncle, even though he may not be normal or act like his age. She learns to love the way he can recite his favorite show, yell “happiness” when the sun is bright and shining, or even dance when no one else is. In the time that Hattie spends time with Adam, he helps her later see that, it is possible to lift the corners of our universe. That life is more interesting, when you try different things and you may or may not like that outcomes of them, but at least you tried.

I like how one of the things that this book shows is how anybody can bring a person happiness and start friendships, you don’t need to be perfect to be someone’s friend. You just need to be willing to try. Like one of the people Hattie meets, her grandmother considers a “circus girl” because her family is the owner of there current town’s carnival. But this doesn’t stop Hattie from trying to make a friend, even though the girl works with the carnival she is still a person. Throughout the book you can see that Hattie may not have a lot of friends her age, but even though some of her friends are not her age. They still bring her happiness in there own way, like any true friend should and with that she is content with her life.  I really enjoy reading this book and you should too.