Lois Peterson

Life is hard enough for Tansy with her depressed mom away indefinitely and her dad making a mess of things at home. But then Dad sends her down the hall to a wrinkly old babysitter named Miss Stella, who Tansy hates on sight. Miss Stella has a unique perspective on life, to say the least. But with the help of her best friend Parveen, Tansy gradually learns to manage all the changes in her life and make unexpected new friends in the process.

RECOGNITION FOR MEETING MISS 405
2010 WINNER BC Chocolate Lily Children's Choice Award
(Fiction/Chapter Books
2009  CCBC Best Books
2010  Silver Birch Express Award nominee
2010  SYRCA Diamond Willow Award nominee
2009  Resource Links "The Year's Best" selection

REVIEWS

Bill Richardson, CBC broadcaster and author of After Hamelin, The Aunts Come Marching and The Bachelor Brothers Bed and BreakfastLois Peterson handles important issues, like bullying, and delicate family matters, like depression, with deft grace, good humour and just enough gravity. Tansy is a charmer. And I predict that the Miss 405 of the title (aka Miss Stella) will start a brand new boom of interest in calligraphy! This is a lovely, sad, and hopeful story.

Resource Links
In a short novel that deals with some heavy issues, Peterson manages to blend aspects of forming friendships with the most unexpected people and finding hope and strength within ourselves. ...This little book is a delight to read and highly recommended.

Canadian Materials (CM)
There are several storylines and themes that are skillfully intertwined in this novel....In spite of the somewhat complicated themes of loneliness and discrimination, the physical presentation of the book and the uncomplicated vocabulary make the book readable for the 8-11 year old reader. It is written in the first person, adding to the novel’s readability. Recommended. Read the full review here.

Tucson Unified School District Recommended.

Southwestern Ohio Young Adult Materials Review Group
Excellent...This book would make a good class set.

Puget Sound Council for Reviewing Children's Media
Top notch... This is a wise purchase for a library that will make a good read-a-loud and will entertain the adult reading the book as well as the children listening.

The Reading Zone
Full of thought-provoking issues, this was a novel I fully enjoyed. One of my favorite aspects was that the book didn’t wrap everything up in a neat little package at the end. Tansy’s mom is depressed, which isn’t something that magically goes away, and Lois Peterson makes that clear. In today’s world, too many of our students struggle with depression in their family and this is the first intermediate book that I have seen realistically deal with the topic. . Read the full review here

Marsha Skrypuch, author of many acclaimed books for children, including Daughter of War, Aram's Choice, Dear Canada: Prisoners in the Promised Land, The Hunger
Lois Peterson is a writer who will make heads turn. I love her gift of creating compelling characters and a story that defies you to put it down.

Meeting Miss 405 explores the growing friendship between an older woman and her young neighbour, and demonstrates that true and lasting relationships can develop between the most unlikely of people. And Miss Stella’s lessons about super concentration bear remembering: “…it helps you be where you are and feel what you feel, without always rushing onto the next thing. And it helps you not worry about things.” A powerful message from a small and lovely book. Read the full review here at

NOW newspaper
...A beautifully told tale that tackles some heavy topics... no condescending, oversimplified pabulum here.

Don't let the cover fool you. This book covers a very serious premise--mental illness. I was surprised when I first started reading this book which handles the subject well. Tansy shows the confusion and anger of a child whose mother leaves to get 'help'. The author doesn't cover up the mental illness but has Tansy and her father talk about why her mother needs help and how it's not Tansy's fault.

Loranne Brown, author of The Handless Maiden
Tansy is a real character: the kind of fun and feisty little girl our daughters frequently are. Tansy is working her way toward understanding complex problems, including her mother's illness, a classmate's life-threatening allergy, and her own complicated emotions. Peterson's prose is elegant, her language interesting. She gets inside a child's quirky head, yet never talks down to the reader. Highly recommended: a four wine-gum rating. (Why wine gums? Read the book to find out!)

Julie Ferguson, Author & speaker
Peterson weaves a delightful story with three dimensional characters and a great plot. Tansy learns to solve problems, become independent, and how to understand others through the gentle and unusual guidance of Miss Stella. The book is beautifully crafted. It is a REAL gem! I'm looking forward to many more children's books from Peterson. She has a fresh and enjoyable voice for young readers. Highly recommended.

Elizabeth Lyon, editor and author of six books on the craft of writing including Manuscript Makeover : Revision techniques no writer can afford to ignoreCrafted with originality, humor, revelations, and life truths that are integral to the story, Lois Peterson has written an entirely satisfying novel for young readers. It delights with its rhythm, color, sensory images, and a fully engaging heroine, who faces the reality of separation from her mother and shows how, in the face of adversity, a child can grow, thrive, care for others, and express her creativity.
Although written for children, this is a book I highly recommend that adults read, for the sheer pleasure and the truths about life.

MEETING MISS 405 is a also available as a Tumblereadable book through many public library websites.