This story was so hard to get through but it was important and it was well done. Cassie was a wonderful main character to follow through these struggles and I know there are kids out there who need to read a book like this.

Thank you to Bloomsbury Publishing for an e-ARC of this book. I'm not sure why, but this book took me awhile to get to. I wish I had picked up sooner, as it's an emotional middle grade novel about family. It's about what it means to be remembered and forgotten, and how to live when the certainty of an uncertain future looms large. I loved Cassie and my heart broke for her as she lived through her mother's decline into early onset Alzheimer's disease. I hope other kids whose families are unfortunately impacted by a similar fate find this book and find solace within its pages.

A powerful, heartfelt story about family, friendships, and.dealing with major change. Beautiful and emotional--this one tugged on my heartstrings!

I fell in love with the beautiful cover and the premise of this story. I intended to read it with my youngest daughter as a read-aloud but then my mother-in-law succumbed quickly to Alzheimer's herself and we lost her this October. While it is a well written story, it was far too painful for her and very hard for me to read.

As a result of my various committee appointments and commitments I am unable to disclose my personal thoughts on this title at this time. Please see my star rating for a general overview of how I felt about this title. Additionally, you may check my GoodReads for additional information on what thoughts I’m able to share publicly. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to read this and any other titles you are in charge of.

Middle Grade Realistic Fiction. Cassie lives with her mom and dad in a desert/ canyon region of the southwest. Her mother loves swimming and dolphins, but Cassie likes to keep her feet firmly on the shore. Cassie's mother has early onset Alzheimer's, and it is shaking Cassie to the shore. Sometimes her mother seems almost fine, and other times she can't remember Cassie's name. Because of the grim situation at home, Cassie has lost interest in her art, her soccer, and in keeping up with her best friend Bailey. She knows her mother doesn't have a lot of time left to make new memories, and Cassie is determined to make the most of it.

This is a sensitive portrayal of a topic not often (if ever?) explored in middle grade fiction. The reader could feel Cassie's hope and heartbreak as she silently begged her mom to call her by name. Definitely recommended.

This was a very emotional read for me, but it is so powerful. I would be hesitant to give this to every kid to read, but the more mature readers could easily handle this intense topic. This is a beautiful story about the lengths families will travel to make their members feel loved

I received an advance copy. All thoughts are my own.

This is such a perfect, and beautifully written middle-grade story. 

This is the first book that I have read by this author and I think that she did a beautiful job not only representing people who may be suffering from this disease but also their family members. This book is heart-warming but sad at the same time. There were times in the story when Cassie kept thinking about how her mother never said her name anymore and that maybe she didn't remember it. And each time that Cassie would urge her mom to say her name, Cassie, it broke my heart. I cannot imagine going from such a close relationship with your mother to not knowing if she even remembers who you are, especially facing something like that at such a young age. 

The writing shows how difficult it is for Cassie to deal with these changes that have happened in her life. The thoughts and emotions that you get from her are so raw and real; she is sad, and angry and maybe a bit resentful of her father who is trying to find his own ways to cope.

I also love that Cassie is given a creative outlet. I believe that that is so important in anyone's life but especially when dealing which such a life-altering scenario. Showing Cassie unable to create because of the enormity of what she is facing and her sadness over her mother's illness was the perfect touch. 

I love the friendships and family dynamics within this book, they are so real and relatable especially for a book about children who haven't fully developed their communication skills. 

This book isn't very long but the author manages to tell a full and powerful story in a short amount of time. I definitely recommend this one.

Sandy Stark-Mcginnis can write about serious topics in middle grade lit! This one was heart-wrenching, beautiful, and hopeful. Cassie is heartbroken when her mom with early onset Alzheimer's forgets her name. It wasn't enough that her memories were floating away, but forgetting Cassie's name was the worst Bad Day. Cassie abandons her art, her best friend, and soccer and chooses to be alone - at school, at recess. Her art club ideas of painting an ocean mural when they are surrounded by desert seems weird to the rest of the club. Then Cassie gets an idea - to take mom on one of her bucket list item adventures, but Cassie realizes how things could go very, very wrong. My heart hurt for Cassie but watching her grow into herself was something I won't soon forget.

Thank you to Netgalley & the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this middle grade book early!

I am a huge advocate for middle grade and middle grade that deals with subjects that are a little more hard hitting. I think my students and other children would benefit from reading about kids that deal with harder things when they’re young like dementia, death of a parent and things along those lines.

This was a beautiful story! Hard to read at times but definitely worth the read

This children’s book will speak to anyone who’s parent slowly loses those precious memories a little more each day.
Cassie’s attempts to help her mother are valiant and beautiful and will pull on your heartstrings.
Grab your tissues, you’re gonna need it for this beautifully written book.

*I received this NetGalley ARC from the publisher and this is my unbiased review.

I LOVED Extraordinary Birds so I was not surprised when this book was 5 Stars, as well! Cassie has to navigate school, family life and friendships, all while her mother suffers a TBI and has early onset dementia. She's careful what to say to her friends and doesn't want them to see how tough things have gotten for her at home. She loves her mother and wants what's best for her and the family but when will Cassie have time to figure out what she wants in life. How can she keep saying no to her friends and not have any friends as she tries to get through this tough time in her life and her mothers. Balancing friendships and family, always difficult but Cassie is really torn on which is the right direction to do...but is there a right direction?

What a beautiful, heartbreaking book! Cassie's mother has been diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer's. Cassie struggles with the diagnosis, slowly losing her mother while she's still alive, and how to navigate this new part of their lives together. It's a heavy book. But it's important. And it's one that could help countless readers who are in similar situations. In the mood for an ugly cry? Read this book. Looking for something beautiful that'll break your heart ? Read this book. Want a book you won't soon forget? Read. This. Book.

I really enjoyed this book. Cassie is a middle schooler who is dealing with the fallout of her mother being diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s, who can no longer remember Cassie’s name.

This was a heart-wrenching story, and I thought the other did a wonderful job of showing Cassie’s inner struggles. The confusion she felt about her mother showed through and made my heartbreak. I also really loved that the author included flashbacks to the family before her mother was diagnosed. It made the loss seem more real and heavy because we saw how her mother was before Alzheimer's.

Sweet and sad. I think it’s a good MG pick. Grief, friendship, art, dolphins...are wound together well in this book. I think it will make most readers cry.

This title is such a great look the struggles a family faces when chronic, unrecoverable memory loss sets in. This is a difficult time for adults to face, yet in this novel the main character is a young girl. A girl who misses hearing her mother say her name.

Highly recommend this book for anyone in middle school and up.

The Space Between Lost and Found was a book I expected to be emotional but I didn't realize just how much emotion you could put into a middle grade book. Sandy Stark-Mcginnis did an amazing job writing Cassie and showing the heartbreak a child goes through when their parent slowly starts to forget and having the forward in the beginning showing that she herself had gone through this as an adult made it so much more powerful. As an adult I can't imagine what it would be like for my mom to not remember my name so having Cassie live through that as a fifth grader? It was heartbreaking. But she's a girl that wants to make her mother remember her and live the life she wants to before she can't do it anymore. I also like that it showed what a child goes through socially when they close themselves off from the people around them because of what is happening at home. You don't expect other kids to understand what's happening let alone understand why their friend suddenly closes them out. I just feel like this book is the perfect way to explain to people what others go through when dealing with Alzheimers and how hard it is to slowly not be remembered.

Honestly I can't say enough how well written it was because as a twenty-nine year old I was emotional about Kim not remembering Cassie's name and her desire to just swim with dolphins. I would highly recommend this book and I will be giving a copy to my nieces.

My heart just breaks for Cassie as she watches her mom’s memory slowly slip away throughout the book. I can’t imagine how she must be feeling as an adult much less as the 12 year old girl she is. I don’t think I’ll ever forget the mixed feelings of sadness and happiness as Cassie imagined her mom as a dolphin. My heart broke as she imagined saying her name to the ocean and seeing a dolphin pop up to click hello to her (her mom finally remembering her name). Such a fabulous book and emotional read.

This story is about Cassie, who in addition to dealing with all the drama of middle school, is also dealing with her mother's early onset dementia. Cassie has to help take care of her mom, because her mom can't be left alone any more. Cassie decides the one thing that would really help her mom is to fulfill a lifelong dream to swim with dolphins. Except the only place to do that is about 2 hours drive away and Cassie's dad is against the idea. So Cassie comes up with a plan. This is a lovely story about loss and love and how you deal with losing a loved one, if it's sudden or if it's just a little piece at a time.

My thanks to Netgalley and Bloomsbury for providing me an Advance Reading Copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. Sadly, my family is well acquainted with the emotional fallout due to Alzheimer’s disease. Nevertheless, we’ve not experienced the devastation of early onset Alzheimer’s disease (meaning a patient under the age of 65 — many people when they’re in their 40s and 50s). Cassie is not yet a teenager and yet she and her mom have practically reversed their familial roles — she must now take care of her mom when her dad is not around. This means setting aside her love of soccer (and possibly her best friend) so that she can focus on what’s most important. Cassie’s biggest hope is that one day, hopefully very soon, her mom will remember her name. Why can’t she just say it?

There are threads of memories that continue to come back to Cassie — from before her mom began to lose her memory. They’d visit the beach, her mother enjoyed dancing to Cindi Lauper’s music, and her parents were so very happy and in love. Therefore, when we jump back to the present, witnessing Cassie’s mom experience this degenerative illness, it leaves us feeling helpless. There’s a very real lack of control when you never know if you’ll be remembered or how your loved one will react in different situations. The pain was even more evident as Cassie and her father slowly realize they must move forward, almost as if her mother had died. However, it was so beautifully written and it’s definitely an underrepresented topic in middle grade literature. This title will publish on Tuesday, April 28th, 2020, so be sure to order a copy!