I appreciate having had an opportunity to read and review this book. The appeal of this particular book was not evident to me, and if I cannot file a generally positive review I prefer simply to advise the publisher to that effect and file no review at all.

Amy and Miles, Randall and Tate; it made it even cuter that everyone was friends to begin with. Amy has just moved to town after her mother's death. Miles's family runs a bowling alley. Randall (who wore a bow tie to school everyday of 5th grade) and Miles have been friends forever. Tate whose best Perla has moved away has her own sense of style; she befriends Amy on her first day at her new school. From there the story evolves into the ups and downs of life.
This book was provided to me for free through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

So often books written for middle school students fall short when they discuss meaningful topics such as grief, connection, friendship and healing. I loved how delicately this book handled all those themes, and emerged as a powerful reminder of the healing power of friendship. I ordered this book for my library. There are several students I know who need this book, and I will promote it to them in book talks. Thank you so much for allowing me to preview this book.

'In Your Shoes' is a wonderful new contemporary middle grade novel that tackles important topics such as mental illness, friendship, trust, trying to fit in, and family. The story was sweet and definitely relevant to today's kids. I also really liked how it touches on mental illness (in the form of anxiety) and makes it accessible to the age range of children reading the story. I believe it's important to tackle ignorance at a young age.

This certainly isn't your typical middle grade novel. The characters have odd interests. THey don't abandon these interests in the name of popularity. Their passions don't make them suddenly popular either. They just are. There are no assumptions made about the characters or their sexuality based on their interests. There are no perfect resolutions to the plot complications. They acknowledge their big issues and then find a way to move forward and keep living.
The plot is a bit scattered. Plot threads are created and abandoned. Some issues are too easily resolved.

In Your Shoes is a sweet story that deals with a lot of things kids may have to deal with and it does so with tact and understanding. Death, moving, friendship, grief. I think this book will be a helpful tool to the right kids. I enjoyed the characters and am excited to purchase this for my elementary library.

Gephart returns with another sensitive portrayal of friendship and grief in In Your Shoes, her latest novel. The story is told in two alternating chapters. Amy Silverman's mother has died from cancer, so she and her father move to Pennsylvania, more specifically into her uncle's funeral home, where her dad will work once he finishes his classes in funeral arts. Amy is lonely and grieving. Meanwhile, Miles Spagoski, whose family owns Buckington Bowl, the local bowling alley, is also feeling sorrow, as well as anxiety. He misses his grandmother, who died a year ago, and is worried about his ailing grandfather.

The tweens meet under unfortunate and awkward circumstances on Amy's first day of school: before Amy even enters the building, Miles's lucky bowling shoe gets tossed in the air and clonks her on the head. Though Amy and Miles are destined to become close, Gephart takes her time in the build up to friendship which is adorable and entertaining. Through Amy and Miles the reader is able to see how different people deal with the death of a loved one and grieve. Amy turns to creative writing as her outlet when life becomes to much to handle whereas Miles bowls. The bowling motif is woven well into the story from the terminology to the very structure of the novel. Unfortunately, intercepting Amy's and Mile's narration is an omniscient narrator which did nothing for me as a reader. The narrator pointed things out that were clearly obvious and took me out of the story. I would have much rather spent more time with Amy and Miles who are endearing main characters, as are their friends, Randall and his weight-lifting, blue-haired crush, Tate. The plot moves at a swift pace with several crises that help move the story along. Ultimately it is the burgeoning relationship between Amy and Miles who need (and find) both help and hope that will capture your heart.

Amy's mom has recently died and now she and her father are living with her uncle in his funeral home.

Miles helps out at his family's bowling alley and hopes to take his grandfather on a special trip for his birthday.

After a bowling shoe incident the 2 start a friendship.

I liked this - a good friendship, dealing with grief and regret, quirkiness, and some interesting insights. I loved the homage to Jon Schumacher as the cool school librarian.

What a great read! In Your Shoes will be a great addition to my library. While it hit on some heavy subjects, there was plenty of humor to balance it out and was portrayed in a way that my students will be able to relate to. I love that Amy’s fairy tale was intertwined, and the special bod to Mr. Schu made my heart soar! Thank you, NetGalley for the ARC!

Rating: 4.5 Stars

What happens when the anxious bowler's shoe hits the lonely new girl on the head? They strike up a great friendship, of course.

• Pro: This book delivered so many feels! It was touching and heartwarming and just so precious and sweet. I swear my heart exploded over and over again as I read this book.

• Pro: Family was a really important part of this story, and Gephart doesn't just show the bright and shiny side of family. She also showed the imperfect side, and I like that she included some family conflict, because it gave her a chance to explore things like resolution and forgiveness.

• Pro: What an interesting group of kids. Amy was a writer, Miles was a bowling hustler, Randall was a fashionista, and Tate was a knitting weight-lifter. I absolutely adored all four of them, and their friendship was spectacular.

• Pro: Gephart really did an outstanding job thoughtfully exploring feelings of loneliness, grief, and regret. And, I loved seeing boys, who shared their emotions with each other. It's so important for young men to see that it's acceptable to be in touch with their feelings.

• Pro: I really enjoyed the way the story was told. It was alternating third person omniscient, with the addition of a third point of view, "a nosy, noisy narrator", who I really enjoyed.

• Pro: This entire book tugged at my heartstrings, but the ending totally snapped them. It was so, so sweet and unexpected, and I think it could give a lot of comfort to a tween, who had suffered a loss.

Overall: An endearing story of friendship, loss, endings, and beginnings, which touched my heart.

In Your Shoes
by Donna Gephart

Random House Children's

Delacorte Books for Young Readers
Children's Fiction
Pub Date 09 Oct 2018


I am reviewing a copy of In Your Shoes through Random House Children's and Netgalley:

Miles is a bit paranoid and obnoxious, but he loves his families bowling alley despite feeling that he could get struck by a bolt of lightning or a wild animal that escaped from the Philadelphia Zoo on the way there.

Amy is new to the school wishing her Mom hadn't died and she didn't have to live over her Uncle's funeral home where everything smells musty, and she's afraid of seeing a dead body. Amy spends her time trying to write her own happily ever after in the stories she spends hours working on.

After Miles looses both his Grandmother and Grandfather he is understandably heartbroken but Amy is there for him, just as he had been there for her when she first moved.


Miles and Amy are brought together when Miles bowling shoe accidentally hits Amy on the forehead.


I give In Your Shoes five out of five stars!


Happy Reading!

This is a story about two different kids who are trying to get by in middle school. Amy has just moved to this small town from big city Chicago. Her mom died after being sick for awhile and her dad is going to school to learn how to help with the family business, a funeral home. In the meantime, Amy is living with her uncle who loves her but doesn't have any children and is busy with the funeral home. Miles, on the other hand, lives with his mom and dad and his grandfather in this same small town and run a bowling alley. Miles' grandmother died awhile back and his grandfather is still struggling with that loss. This is a lovely story about friendship and how to cope with the loss of someone you love deeply. The characters are interesting and well developed and I think the kids are going to like this one a lot.

Beautiful story of friendship, family, loss, and acceptance. The author takes some tough situations and weaves them into a story that works for middle grade students. Both Miles and Amy are characters I grew to like and understand. I think many readers will see a piece of themselves in their stories. The relationship that Miles shares with his grandfather is one that leaves us thinking. While they obviously love one another, they don't always share their feelings with one another. This often happens in life and it could promote great discussions among readers.

Donna Gephart’s In Your Shoes (October 30, 2018) is about surviving loss and encountering your first love. I picked it up knowing it was from the author of Lily and Dunkin and was surprised at how funny it was. In the story, Amy is working through both the death of her mother and having to relocate to live in a funeral home with her uncle (her dad’s busy studying in another state to become the pastor of the funeral home). On her way to the first day of school, she gets hit in the head with a pair of bowling shoes. This puts her in the path of Miles Spagoski, and the story takes off from there. In addition to being funny, I was pleasantly surprised to find that real life librarian Mr. Schu was fictionalized in the story, and I thought the way Gephart wrote about death and dying was really down to earth and touching. I highlighted a passage that related to Amy’s father being a minister, but feel that it could apply to libraries, too:

“If you’re looking for peace, may this be your sanctuary. If you’re looking for social justice, may we work together as a committed community. If you’re looking for a home, may we be your family.”

This is a wonderful book about friendship, family, and dealing with the death of loved ones. The book switches between the voices of Amy and Miles who are dealing with their own things, but who are brought together by a randomly thrown bowling shoe.

Amy has just moved to town to live with an uncle after her mother's death. Her father will come eventually, but he is getting training to work in her uncle's funeral parlor and only visits on some weekends. She is leery of starting school, especially since she thinks people notice that one of her legs is longer than the other. When she is head in the head with a rogue bowling shoe on her way into the building on the first day, she takes this as a bad omen and starts writing a fairy tale involving the incident. The wearer of the shoe, Miles, is mortified, even though it's his friend Randall's fault. Miles is an anxious young man who feels most at home at the family bowling alley, although even there is a sadder place since the death of his grandmother. He's trying to bowl a perfect game, would sort of like to ask a girl to the school dance, and is saving up for a special present for his grandfather's 75th birthday. Amy doesn't have that hard a time at school, and even meets a like-minded friend, Tate, who is into weight lifting and knitting. The girls are library helpers during their lunch for [real life] librarian John Schu. Randall has a crush on Tate and is trying to figure out a fun way to ask her to the dance, and Amy often wanders off to the bowling alley to have a hot chocolate and escape the funeral home. She enjoys bowling with Miles, although the regular shoes make her hip hurt. As the grandfather's birthday party and the school dance approach, the four children learn more about each other and develop even closer relationships, which help them cope when things don't always go well.

Strengths: I liked seeing the development of the relationships between the children, and the light romance is always welcome. Amy is generally upbeat, and even though she doesn't really want to move, she does a good job at settling in and making friends. Miles' relationship with his grandfather is sweet, and the bowling alley setting is fabulous (Anyone remember Ed?).

Weaknesses: There was a LOT going on in this book, and I think it would have been stronger if it had concentrated on just a couple of difficulties instead of introducing so many. For example, Amy should have been in grief counseling, and I would have been interested to see her practice some coping strategies. I also would have found more in-depth information about leg length discrepancy, anxiety, or severe asthma (which were all just touched on) helpful and informative.

What I really think: Definitely purchasing, and the cover will make sure this never gets back to the shelves. Our high school has a really good bowling team, and I was in a league in middle school, so I am glad to see another book with bowling beside Crystal Allen's 2011 How Lamar's Bad Prank Won a Bubba-Sized Trophy.

Tagging this book made me realize why I didn't enjoy it more. Death, anxiety, physical handicaps, moving, feeling that no one understands you...these are all experiences that many children have or will experience, sadly enough. And it's certainly possible to experience more than one of these circumstances at the same time. But Miles and Amy just cope with too, too much, and the scale of their suffering is severe enough that an adult reader certainly asks why no adult in their circle ever intervenes beyond the offer of food or a hug. Miles' fear of violent death, which he expresses all the time, goes largely unchallenged by his parents. His and Amy's ongoing grief about lost loved ones does not attract any concerned attention at their school. Amy must move to her uncle's funeral home in a different town while her dad trains to work there, and neither adult ask her how she feels, let alone about the move, but about living in such a locale after losing her mother to cancer. Her issues with one leg being shorter than the other causes her problems when she bowls, but no mention of how she copes in gym class? Even their friend Randall's asthma goes neglected by his parents, who allow him to attend a party next door with a cat in residence - and Randall promptly goes into cardiac arrest after discovering his inhaler is empty. Plans to attend the big dance are cancelled, off to the hospital!

Miles' sudden ability to organize an event for Amy that gives her the Cinderella fantasy she longs for (in the fifth grade?) is a sweet ending if unbelievable in the context of his untreated anxiety disorder. The children are extremely nice to each other, even if they appear to exist in a bubble world where just the four main characters attend class, socialize in the library, and of course, bowl. Adults are colourless, even the friendly school librarian and Miles' cranky grandfather. Amy's desire to be a writer is believable as she struggles to self treat her sadness by updating her beloved fairy tales but a distracting third-person narrative voice continually enters to explain not just Amy's stories but the meaning of the wider tale. If the reader doubts the unresolved list of woes that Miles and Amy encounter still can leave them dancing enraptured in each other's arms with the firm assurance from that narrator that they lived happily ever after, there is a final scene in heaven where the dead characters gather to watch approvingly and have a dance themselves, Enough already, get these kids some counselling!

I really enjoyed this book which depicted 2 young people dealing with anxiety and grief in a realistic way. Great middle grade book.

Miles and Amy are perfectly human characters. Miles is quirkily obsessed with strange and bizarre deaths. Looking up strange deaths helps him relax at night. Amy has just moved to a new town with her dad and has been struggling to cope with her mom’s death. Amy gives herself pep talks and escapes into her writing. Their strange meeting- getting hit in. The head with a bowling shoe!-is the beginning of a wonderful friendship- each being there for the other at just that right time. I love how the library is a place of refuge for Amy. She even meets the world’s best librarian Mr. Schu! This is a heartfelt story of love, loss, and moving on.

In this middle grade novel, middle schoolers Miles and Amy are both dealing with many feelings of loss, grief, guilt, regret and fear. Amy, who has lost her mother, moves to a new town away from her best friend and her dog. She lives in a funeral home (the family business) and stays with her uncle during the week while her father is away studying at mortuary school.

Miles has lost his grandmother who loved the family bowling alley as much as Miles. He also goes through more difficult times later in the book. Miles has a lot of anxiety and feels that if he worries about enough, then maybe he can prevent bad things from happening. He has a couple of great friends, Randall, his best friend suffers with asthma and loves to bowl, even if he just ends up losing money in bets against Miles. Then there is his friend Tate who is also Randall's girlfriend. Tate is a likable, spunky character who befriends Amy and makes her start to feel a bit more comfortable.
Miles and Amy develop a cute and perfectly awkward tween relationship with shy smiles, blushing and even a game of spin the bottle.
Since Amy likes to write, the reader is treated to the fictional story Amy is writing about a girl locked in a castle tower and a prince who struggles to feel accepted.
I think many students will enjoy this story. Kids in grades 5-8 will especially appreciate the angst of being a preteen and navigating the challenges of friendships, family dynamics, and romantic crushes.