When Dani’s father is struggling with feeling sad and decides he needs to visit his family in Italy, he arranges for Dani to stay with her grandparents in Stockholm. Dani is missing her best friend and convinces Grandma to let her surprise Ella for her birthday by going to Northbrook, where Ella now lives. Dani will be Ella’s “best present.” Although Grandma consults by phone with Ella’s mom for the visit, events do not go as planned. Dani’s first solo train trip devolves in a cascade of misadventure that includes a lost cell phone, missed meetings, and a miserable bout of the flu. As in the earlier books in the Dani series featuring this white child and her family, the story highlights a believable slice of life in all its complications and messiness, while capturing the complexities of children’s feelings when adult actions leave them uninformed and powerless. (Ages 7–9)

What do you do if your best friend lives in another city and the adults can't keep their promises about when you'll see her? You have to sort it out for yourself

Dani's father is away and Dani is staying with her grandparents. When she is invited to Ella's party, she thinks of the world's best gift for the world's best friend: she, Dani, will be the present Her grandmother agrees--if she's brave enough to take the train alone. So Dani sets out on a journey all by herself.