She wishes her mom would come back from wherever she's gone, and then maybe she wouldn't feel like such an outlier in her own family.

Ray and her dad are similar in many ways, while Annie has always been a little bit unlucky and feels like she just can't be the type of kid to make her dad proud. Once again, she has written a book with an endearing female main character dealing with the challenges of being a young teen, and we are witnesses to her growth in confidence and sense of self.Īnnie lives with her dad and older brother, Ray, and feels like the odd one out. I loved the author's two previous books, Caterpillar Summer and The Queen Bee and Me, so I was thrilled to get an eARC of this book to review. Thank you to Edelweiss+ and the publisher for an eARC of this book. Thank you to Bloomsbury Children's and Edelweiss+ for a DRC in exchange for an honest review. It is also refreshing to watch the little community of Oak Branch work together for their first Rosy Maple Moth Festival. Our culture is too quick to judge on current appearance and we forget to learn their stories. It is always a revelation to learn about the past adventures of our elderly friends. Little does Annie know that she will soon meet a mentor - one that will literally 'fall into place.' I really enjoyed watching Annie's relationship grow with Gloria. Annie is humiliated and claims she already has a mentor named Jackie Zpudzz, inspired to make up the name by the eccentric artwork in the principal's office. The school tries to step in and give assistance. It is hard to be twelve without a mother. She misses her mom and is convinced that she was born under an unlucky star. Without her mom, Annie feels the third corner of a triangle that should be a square. The 'do the right thing' without thinking types.

Her dad and older brother Ray are the oatmeal-everyday types.

Logan feels like the oddball of the family.

Gillian mcdunn books