Language: G (0 swears, 0 ‘f’); Mature Content: G; Violence: PG (some bullying, child sexual abuse inferred)
BUYING ADVISORY: MS - ESSENTIAL
AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE
13yo Sasha is spending a week of summer at his aunt’s rural home; his parents and his therapist are hoping he will have a chance to decompress away from all his technology and away from the kids who are bullying him at school. One his first encounters is with the local bullies - pulling him into “The Gray”, the place his mind goes when his high anxiety kicks in. But he also meets Ivy, a kind girl his own age, and Eli, an older boy who dealing with trauma of his own.
Normally I am not a fan of books about kids who have anxiety issues, because the anxiety is used as a crutch, not as a purpose, and as soon as they see a therapist their life is changed miraculously. Baron, however, has given us a boy whose life is run by his anxiety, who already has a therapist and isn’t yet “fixed”, and understands that the struggle is on-going - even with compassionate friends. I have dozens of students I would like to send to Sasha’s aunt! Sasha and his family are lapsed Jews, the other characters default white.
Cindy Mitchell, Library Teacher, MLS
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