Middletown
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- $7.99
Publisher Description
Thirteen-year-old Eli likes baggy clothes, baseball caps, and one girl in particular. Her seventeen-year-old sister Anna is more traditionally feminine; she loves boys and staying out late. They are sisters, and they are also the only family each can count on. Their dad has long been out of the picture, and their mom lives at the mercy of her next drink. When their mom lands herself in enforced rehab, Anna and Eli are left to fend for themselves. With no legal guardian to keep them out of foster care, they take matters into their own hands: Anna masquerades as Aunt Lisa, and together she and Eli hoard whatever money they can find. But their plans begin to unravel as quickly as they were made, and they are always way too close to getting caught.
Eli and Anna have each gotten used to telling lies as a means of survival, but as they navigate a world without their mother, they must learn how to accept help, and let other people in.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
When their single mother is arrested for drunk driving in their small New England town and sent to rehab, 13-year-old Eli Reynolds's sister Anna, 17, passes herself off as the siblings' estranged aunt so they can remain together. Anna struggles to make rent, while Eli hides the truth from her friends and pines for her best friend Meena, who is Indian American. As the duo's lie begins to unravel and their relationship strains, they're forced to come to terms with their mother's alcohol dependence, their complicated family history, and—most importantly—each other. Told in third person through the perspective of Eli, who identifies as "not quite a girl," Moon's (Sparrow) sophomore novel handles sensitive topics with care: it clearly conveys that the teens' mother's alcoholism is a disease, not a moral failing, without minimizing her children's experiences, including Eli's patience and Anna's anger. Its representation of siblinghood is equally nuanced, portraying a bond that rings true (in one memorable passage, Eli reflects on sometimes seeing "all the Annas" she's known at once). Though the story's emotional elements can outshine its occasionally meandering plot, this journey is a rewarding one. Ages 8–12.
