Thanks to Netgalley and Katherine Tegen Books that I read in partnership with the audio from the library.
by: Janae Marks
narrated by: Imani Parks
rating: really liked
Joy has had a picture book life, up until now. Her parents' financial situation has changed and her family has had to downsize from the house she called home into an apartment where she has to share a room with her younger sister. She has to go to a new school and make new friends. Plus, her parents are fighting all the time, making life at home not the safe haven it once was. But thankfully she meets a neighbor about her age who introduces her to her peers in the building and their super secret refuge in the building that the adults don't know about. It's there that Joy starts communicating with someone via the literal writing on the wall and is forced to examine her own emotions and motivations.
Writing with heart and a tender care for the very real feelings these middle school characters are experiencing, Janae Marks shapes this tale of finding a metaphorical and literal soft place to land with a skilled hand.
Bonus, the dog characters, especially Ziggy are *chef's kiss*.
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