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Valerie Hobbs is a well-respected author of numerous young adult novels.  She is recognized for her ability to infuse her characters with remarkably authentic thoughts, motivations, and behaviors that realistically capture the life experiences of young people as they move from child to teen to young adult.  Carolina Crow Girl is a splendid example of this ability, and explores the themes of culture and diversity, character, values and friendship with sensitivity and respect.  Carolina is not looking forward to starting sixth grade at a new school and being the new girl again.  This time, she decides she’ll say her father is an astronaut, lost in space.  She’s learned to cope with the uncomfortable routine of standing in front of the class, introducing herself, and telling about her family by creating fantastical versions of a non-existent father.  Anything’s better than telling the class she lives in an old yellow school bus with her single mother, Melanie, and baby sister, Trinity.  And anyway, it won’t be long before Melanie has them on the move again, in her endless search for Trinity’s father, Red.  But this time, things happen differently.  Carolina takes on the care of a baby crow after finding it on the ground below its nest. And she meets Stefan Crouch, whose family owns the land on which Melanie has parked their bus.  Carolina becomes fond of her new home, and as her friendship with Stefan grows, his family offers an alternative to moving on with her mother and sister.  As she considers the family’s offer, Carolina must come to terms with her own beliefs about freedom, family and belonging.