Weekend Pick for April 26, 2024
| This is a final suggestion by Jen Nails, who is a teacher, librarian, and an author in Las Vegas, NV, her hometown. Thank you so much, Jen, for introducing us to these poetry novels and collections and making our world richer with beautiful words! We are so grateful for you and each one of your contributions. |  Jen Nails |
 | As middle school begins, all of the things that were familiar for Birdie begin to change. The death of her father, several years prior to the start of the story, continues to weigh on her, and she had relied on these constants to get her through. Her regular Scrabble games with her crush, her grandma's continual planning for her own funeral (as dismal as it was), and her mom's consistent return home right after work all begin to shift. Her best friend and her crush start hanging out more often. At first Birdie does not see a problem with this. They are both important to her, so why not gather more frequently with both! Not so, as she slowly begins to realize that they are dating. In addition, her grandmother begins dating, which at first is appalling to Birdie. |
| Her grandmother's new boyfriend has a cat, which she'd always said she did not care for, and now, Birdie observes, her grandma seems to love cats! Navigating through these major changes in her world requires canceling her beloved Scrabble meetups, and she surprisingly starts missing her grandma's burial clothing searches. The final straw comes when her mother announces that she has been dating a man for quite some time and is only now just sharing the information with Birdie. |  |
Birdie spends months going out of her way to ignore her mom's new love, struggling with anger and disappointment over the betrayal. The climactic scenes involve Birdie's mother's boyfriend accompanying her to visit her father's grave, something that only she and her mother had done together up to that point. Birdie finally accepts her mother's new relationship, her best friend and her crush end up breaking up, and her grandmother's boyfriend becomes ill, which inspires her to quit the funeral-planning and pick back up on the life-planning. While middle school turns out to be nothing like she thought it would be, Birdie accepts the new direction of her life and embraces the changes.
The novel is suited to middle grade readers and up, and for fans of authors Sharon Creech, Sarah Weeks, and Rebecca Stead. Eileen Spinelli is a poet and novelist, and the wife of children's author Jerry Spinelli.
The novel is suited to middle grade readers and up, and for fans of authors Sharon Creech, Sarah Weeks, and Rebecca Stead. Eileen Spinelli is a poet and novelist, and the wife of children's author Jerry Spinelli.
Eileen and Jerry Spinelli
Come back next week for another books suggestion, friends!
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