Status
Available
Collection
Publication
Margaret K. McElderry Books (2022), Edition: Reprint, 256 pages
Description
When they are selected to read speeches at their elementary school graduation, an unlikely friendship develops between two sixth-graders, one popular and one a misfit, who are facing family problems and health issues.
Local notes
Booklist Starred Reviews, 05/14/2021
Grades 4-7 - "*Starred Review* Meg is navigating the end of sixth grade with as much grace as she can, but there’s a lot on her plate. It’s hard enough coping with awkward former friendships and an unwelcome graduation-speech assignment, but she also has to contend with a grieving, dysfunctional mother and her own despair after her father unexpectedly passes away. She spends her school days ducking questions and seeking refuge in the nurse’s office, rereading Anne of Green Gables and wishing for a kindred spirit of her own. Then Riley crashes Meg’s hideaway, dealing with an issue of her own: type 1 diabetes. Riley does her best to fit in, but it’s hard with an insulin pump attached to her stomach and limits placed—by a caring but overbearing mother—on her food and activities. The two girls strike up a tentative friendship, though the unlikely pair will have to overcome a number of obstacles if their relationship is to flourish. Weetman tells the story from the girls’ alternating viewpoints, and though they each have distinct personalities and challenges, both are easy to root for. While Meg, grappling with grief, provides insight, Riley details and demystifies aspects of living with diabetes while vying for body ownership. It’s an engrossing story about the myth of normalcy, the depths of grief, and the power of friendship to help deal with it all."
Grades 4-7 - "*Starred Review* Meg is navigating the end of sixth grade with as much grace as she can, but there’s a lot on her plate. It’s hard enough coping with awkward former friendships and an unwelcome graduation-speech assignment, but she also has to contend with a grieving, dysfunctional mother and her own despair after her father unexpectedly passes away. She spends her school days ducking questions and seeking refuge in the nurse’s office, rereading Anne of Green Gables and wishing for a kindred spirit of her own. Then Riley crashes Meg’s hideaway, dealing with an issue of her own: type 1 diabetes. Riley does her best to fit in, but it’s hard with an insulin pump attached to her stomach and limits placed—by a caring but overbearing mother—on her food and activities. The two girls strike up a tentative friendship, though the unlikely pair will have to overcome a number of obstacles if their relationship is to flourish. Weetman tells the story from the girls’ alternating viewpoints, and though they each have distinct personalities and challenges, both are easy to root for. While Meg, grappling with grief, provides insight, Riley details and demystifies aspects of living with diabetes while vying for body ownership. It’s an engrossing story about the myth of normalcy, the depths of grief, and the power of friendship to help deal with it all."