Well written book exploring the idea of divorce and other relationships for a you girl. Engaging, relatable, and hard not to love the main character.

Wren's life has been turned upside down. With no warning her parents decided to get divorced. Over the summer she went to stay with her grandparents while they worked out details. Because she was some embarrassed and confused she didn't talk to anyone - not even her best friend - about it. Now that school has started everything has changed. A new girl has moved in, Amber is mad at her, her dad is in a different house and she sees him on the weekend. Wren has a lot of questions but mainly - will her life and family ever be the same?

This is a decent solid chapter book for about 4th graders. There are some familiar themes and doesn't really break any new ground but it is pretty good.

DIVORCE, that big scary word especially to those who are just discovering who they are. Julie Bowe has masterfully captured the thoughts and feelings of Wren Jo Byrd when her life changes dramatically over the summer due to the separation of her parents. Wren feels like her world has ended and it is so devastating to her that she doesn't want anyone to know, especially her friends.

"Lots of thing have changed since my last first week of school...but all those changes seem little compared to the big change that happened over the summer. Dad moved out. When your parents decide to get a divorce, someone has to leave."

To the child that is going through the same circumstance this part of the book would resonate with them because Julie Bowe has captured the feelings and questions, both Big & Little, that are trapped inside their minds buzzing, just as they are for Wren in this book.

With these changes, Wren is also trying to navigate friendships that have fallen away, a new nickname that doesn’t feel friendly and becoming friends with the bossy girl who has secrets of her own.

I am quite impressed with this book as I believe Julie Bowe has tackled a subject that is much more common than it used to be, although rarely discussed in the way that this book does. What this book does is focus on the child, I find Wren to be a delightful middle grader who other 8-12 year olds will relate to and her feelings are very real. In fact, I am sure we all recognise the following feeling at some point in our lives.
“No, I’m not Hungry,” I reply to my cat. “Yes, my stomach feels icky again.”
That dreaded sick feeling when something doesn’t feel right.

What I find impressive about this book is that it is realistic. The author hasn’t tried to get the parents back together at the end, not to say that the wrap up of the story isn’t positive but it is true to life making it even more relatable to the reader.

Throughout the book, Wren looks up words that she doesn’t know the meaning for, it is a good way for the reader to understand words that they also may not be familiar with but I found it disruptive to the story most of the time. In fact, even some of the definitions would still be hard for the 8-12 year old reader to understand.

Each character was a necessary component to the book and I feel like the character development is steady and each character complimentary to each other. From the annoying boys on the bus, to the new teacher Ms. Little, to Shakespeare the cat each had a place that helped shape Wren on her journey of understanding divorce.

I am hopeful that Wren’s bravery of asking questions will also encourage readers to ask questions during their times of uncertainty in life. In the words of Wren..
“Ms. Little says there’s no such thing as a silly question. I’m glad because I still have lots of questions to ask.”

This was a story about dealing with change. Nine year old Wren learns her parents are getting a divorce and struggles to figure out how to deal with this. Then, on top of this devastating news, her best friend Amber is now snubbing her for the new student, Marianna.
Since Bryd's parents have not openly told anyone about the divorce, Bryd does the same. Soon her small lie turns into a bigger and bigger one that threatens to cause even bigger issues.
I think this was a very good book for third and fourth graders. It seemed a very honest portrayal of how a young child would feel when their parents no longer live together. I really liked the characters and the way the story unfolded. I received a complimentary e book from the publisher in exchange for a review.

When her parents told nine-year-old Wren they were getting a divorce, they said it had nothing to do with her. But it feels like it has <i>everything</i> to do with her. She's the one who has to eat dinner at a desk in her mom's office now, instead of at the dining room table. She's the one who has to split her time between two houses and two parents. She's the one who has somehow lost her best friend. While her parents were working out the details of their divorce, Wren was sent to stay with her grandparents, so she missed all the usual summer activities with her friends, including her best friend Amber's birthday. And she didn't know how to talk to them about her parents, so she didn't talk to them at all. Not even a birthday card.

Bowe covers a variety of heavy topics--divorce, bullies, honesty, to name a few--but all with a light handed touch. Wren's voice is a believable nine-year-old, full of wonder and insecurity and bit of naivete as she ponders many of life's big and little questions. Young readers will appreciate her discovery that no one has all the answers--not even one's parents--but that you don't have to try to figure it all out on your own.

Wren's parents are getting a divorce and she spends her week with mom (a librarian!) and weekends with dad at the cabin he is renovating. The problem is that Wren can't seem to find a way to share what is happening at home with anyone from school - even her best friend Amber. When the new girl , Marianna ,takes Wren under her wing (pardon the pun) Wren finds her calm existence pushed to new extremes. Marianna might seem tough but she has secrets of her own. Great middle grade read that asks the big questions most kids have - why are my parents getting a divorce?, why isn't my best friend the same? and some small ones too like why does Marianna keep calling me bird? Young readers will find a kinship with Wren. My thanks to the publisher for the advance copy.

Some questions seem like little things. What does your house look like? That seems like a small thing. But if your parents have divorced and you now have two homes, which house does that question refer to? How do you answer that question? What did you do over the summer? Again, that seems like a casual query, unless you spent it with your grandparents while your parents divided the contents of your home.

For Wren, all these seemingly little questions cause incredible stress as her new school year starts. To make matters worse, her best friend has made a new acquaintance over the summer who seems to have taken Wren's place in her affections. With her new visitation schedule with her father, how will she be able to enjoy sleepovers and weekend movies with her friends? If everyone finds out about the divorce, will it change how everyone looks at her? After things change in such a big way, can all the little things rearrange themselves into a new kind of normal?

Readers who have experienced a similar change in their own lives will appreciate the struggles that Wren goes through, and recognize some of her feelings and reactions as being akin to their own. They will find themselves cheering her on and hoping that everything will work out well for her.

Great for middle grade readers who enjoy realistic fiction with families and friends at center stage.

I read an e-book provided by the publisher through NetGalley.