Honestly Elliott
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- $6.99
Publisher Description
Schneider Family Book Award: Best Middle Grade Honor Book!
Highly-acclaimed author of Caterpillar Summer, Gillian McDunn explores boyhood in a funny, big-hearted story about a kid trying to find the best way to be his best self.
Elliott isn't sure where he fits in. Ever since his best friend moved away and his dad and stepmom announced the arrival of their new baby, he's been feeling invisible. Plus his dad just doesn't seem to understand what having ADHD really feels like, or why cooking is the one activity where Elliott's mind clicks into place.
When he's paired with the super smart and popular Maribel for a school project, Elliott worries she'll be just another person who underestimates him. But Maribel is also looking for a new way to show others her true self and this project could be the chance they've both been waiting for. Sometimes the least likely friends help you see a new side to things . . . and sometimes you have to make a few mistakes before you figure out what's right.
Acclaim for Caterpillar Summer
An Indies Introduce Pick
A Texas Bluebonnet Selection
A Parents Best Book of the Year
A Kirkus Reviews Best Book of the Year
An Amazon Best Book of the Year
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
After being rebuffed by his friends for interrupting and becoming distracted, aspiring chef Elliott, who is white and has ADHD, partners with perfectionistic schoolmate Maribel, cued as Latinx, who has celiac disease, to establish a gluten-free pie business for a final school project. Upping the stakes is Elliott's hope of earning enough money selling pies during the year-end festival to reimburse his father for a window broken during The Incident—something Elliott refuses to discuss even with his therapist—which he'd otherwise have to fund from the savings he's painstakingly set aside to attend summer cooking camp. The sixth graders' initially rocky partnership gives way to camaraderie and trust as they develop their recipe for a delicious, gluten-friendly product that proves their critics wrong. Interjecting footnotes that mimic the way Elliott's brain processes information, McDunn (These Unlucky Stars) offers an affirming and nuanced depiction of empathetic and creative Elliott's experience of ADHD, including the way his executive dysfunction can result in disorganization, impulsivity, resistance to change, and low self-worth. Elliott's relationship with his father, from whom he craves acceptance despite his dad's failure to acknowledge Elliott's specific challenges, is particularly inspiring as the two work toward openness and understanding. Ages 8–11.