Happy & Sad & Everything True
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- $13.99
Publisher Description
With charm and sincerity reminiscent of Judy Blume and Rebecca Stead, this debut middle grade novel is a heartfelt, hopeful story about a girl finding herself through secretly giving out advice to classmates.
Back when Dee and Juniper were still friends, Dee never hid in the bathroom. Now, at the beginning of sixth grade, Dee finds herself there often. The dripping faucet is annoying, and there are other places she’d rather be—like at home and in her room with her cat, Norman. But at least Dee is safe from overenthusiastic teachers and having to see Juniper walking through the halls with her new friends. Dee would rather be alone than witness that.
But it turns out Dee isn’t the only one hiding from something. There are kids all over the school worrying in secret and needing someone to talk to. After Dee helps a second grader with spelling advice, more students begin coming to Dee with their problems. It turns out she’s a good listener, and she likes helping people. And when she starts receiving mysterious notes, it seems someone out there wants to be her friend—if only they would reveal themselves.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Now that they're in different sixth grade classes, Desdemona "Dee" Hiller worries about her friendship with bestie Juniper, who's grown distant following an embarrassing incident involving Dee's mother. While hiding in the bathroom during "snack and stretch" time, counting beige tiles and thinking about Juniper, Dee is interrupted by a noise coming from the grate: her classmate Harry, upset about his father, is kicking the grate in the boys' bathroom. The two start talking through the opening, and Dee offers support and a listening ear. Demand for Dee's impromptu therapy sessions soon spreads throughout the school, and as she begins helping other kids, she realizes that she has "no room to feel lonely," despite still longing to reconnect with Juniper. When Dee starts receiving notes from an anonymous admirer, she wonders if it's Juniper trying to mend their friendship, prompting Dee to uncover the identity of the sender. A persuasive blend of observant and oblivious stream-of-consciousness riffs punctuates Dee's first-person narration, throughout which debut author Thayer explores summarily developed school-based elements and subplots. Juniper, Dee, and Harry read as white. Ages 10–up.
