Language: G (0 Swears); Mature Content: PG (Divorce, tornado, bullying, vandalism) Violence: PG (bullying)
BUYING ADVISORY: MS - ADVISABLE
AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE
13yo Quinn is having a crisis of self. She believes she is untalented and unwanted by her parents. Her parents expected a boy, so they gave her the boy name they picked. She believes her birth was the cause of her parent’s marital rift.
Quinn is separating from her two best friends - Jack and Jade. The loss of Jack is more painful as she’s been friends with him her whole life. Jade is a newer friend who makes Quinn doubt herself even more.
When a tornado strikes the town, Quinn’s home is damaged. As Quinn starts writing poetry, her friends become distant. With changes at home, her parents separating, her brother off to college, and her hamster lost, can Quinn find the way to herself?
DuBois' novel in verse would work well in a classroom, as the teacher in the novel is teaching different types of poetry to the kids, so a teacher could also teach poetry right along with the story. This novel touches on issues important to middle grade students: friendship, changing family dynamics, school, talents, loss of home. I like that throughout the story, there is a sense of hope.
Reviewer: Catherine Crosby, ELA Teacher
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