The Brunch Shift

Saturday mornings mean no sleeping in for a little girl and her mama. While the sun is still coming up, they catch the cross-town bus to the diner, where Mama works the brunch shift, one she cannot afford to skip. There is no one to watch her daughter, so the girl comes along, and the two make the long day lighter by turning it into a game of make-believe.

On the bus they are brave knights fleeing a dragon. Later, up to their elbows in dishwater, they become prospectors digging for gold in the gold rush. In every story, mother and daughter are the stars.

Still, the day is not always easy for the girl. She watches the families seated in Mama's section clinking mugs of hot cocoa before heading off to the park, and she sometimes wishes she could trade places and have someone else's Saturday.

The Brunch Shift is a picture book by Adrienne Thurman that honors parents who work hard for their children. It celebrates the imagination of childhood and the strength of a parent's love, and it will sit comfortably on the shelf beside A Chair for My Mother and Last Stop on Market Street.