I loved this book about a young girl whose whole life seems to be turned upside quickly and unexpectedly. I initially was discouraged because I thought most of the adults in the book were acting irresponsibly and I didn’t want the book to be a display of children acting more mature than the adults. But the story moved along on a better trajectory when it turned to focus more on the relationship between the Tessa and her new group of maybe friends. I liked the fact that Tessa knew her obsession with the milk cartons was not healthy; she was self aware. And her dad allowed her time, instead of making it a big deal. In the end, when she was more mentally prepared to deal with her life, her new friend was there to help her, and in turn help him. I will be recommending this book to any reader looking for a book with a strong empathetic tone.

Set in the 1980's, 7th-grader Tessa lives in Denver, Colarado with her dad. Her mother died of cancer a few months ago. Since then she's been struggling with her anxiety; she copes best with her milk cartons. The problem is that every time she sees a crate of milk cartons she has to flip over every single one in case she find a kid who she doesn't have in her collection. On the back of all milk cartons are the faces of children who are missing, courtesy of The National Center of Missing and Exploited Children. She has a collection of these kids and memorizes their faces and facts as if she went to school with them.

When things couldn't get worse, her dad has her go downstairs to meet someone. This someone happens to be Tessa's new 23-year-old stepmother because they are getting married, and she's pregnant. It takes a lot of courage and strength to take this head on. A lot of change is thrown at her all at once, including moving to California.

Along the way she learns a lot about herself, how to make friends, and how to go with the motions. Her feelings are up and down, left and right, but most of all she realizes that "it's okay".

What makes this story so different is the completely tangled up mess Tessa is fighting through. Even though this may seem like an extreme, I think a lot of kids can connect to this character. Loss of a friend, death of a parent, parent moving on, only child to a big sister, sense of belonging, keeping secrets that are hard to keep, and domestic abuse. I believe this book would be most appropriate for students in 6th grade through young adult.

Such a great novel dealing with grief and anxiety. Very relatable and thoughtfully written. A great read for middle-grade students through adult

This is a middle grade book that reminds me of a lot of other books out there. It follows the story of 7th grader Tessa who is struggling to cope with grief after the loss of her mother. Her dad, a character I really didn’t like, gets a 23 years old pregnant and they decide to get married. The same day Tessa meets this woman is the same day she finds out she is going to have her as a step mother with a sibling on the way. She also will have to move to a new state! This book has strong themes of dealing with grief, change, and hard times. However, I didn’t connect as much to Tessa as a character. I felt an emotional disconnection because there was more of a focus on her obsession with kids on milk cartons than her emotions. It fell flat compared to other middle grade books that I’ve read in other similar themes. The themes reminded me of The Truth About Jellyfish or the Miscalculations of Lightning Girl, both I really enjoyed. This book was decent and an easy read but fell a little flat to me.

Thank you Net Galley for allowing me to read this book in exchange for my review!

This is a hard book to really know what to think about it. Tessa, who is dealing with her mother's death and has a quirk toward collection missing children's pictures off of milk carton's is also having to cope with the fact that her father has found someone new, she is going to have a step-mother and a step-sibling very soon. And then they move.
I found the book to be kind of jarring, and a lot of it happens so fast for Tessa that I am not sure she has the appropriate time to be able to deal with it fully.
Still thinking and mulling this one over.

thank you to NetGalley for this ARC.

Really wanted to like this book. I did..untill the main charcters father, who just lost his wife, gets a 23 year old girl pregnant. This plot line would be fine in a ya adult novel but seem out of place in a kids book.

I really enjoyed this book. It is solidly middle grade, with great character development. It takes place in 1985 but mostly that some through while talking about hairstyles and the fact the kids play foosball instead of video games. There is family drama, OCD behavior, a move, and new friendships. The characters are likable with realistic problems that kids face today (death, finding new friends, family problems). I liked seeing the relationships Tessa developed with her stepmother and “The Losers.” I’d hand this to 5th and 6th graders looking for realistic fiction.

E ARC provided by Netgalley



In 1985, Tessa is still dealing with her mother's death from cancer within the last year. Her mother had been a nurse in Vietnam, and her father, a history teacher, has been staying at work later and later since the mother's death. Tessa has taken to saving the pictures of missing children from milk cartons, and has a file of them that bring her comfort but also embarrasses her because she has a compulsion to go through all of the milk cartons at school until she finds one with a child she has not seen before. When it suddenly turns out that her father has been at school late because he has been seeing a literacy volunteer, Lila, Tessa is even more upset. But that's not all! Lila is pregnant, the two are getting married, and the family is going to be moving to a beach house in California that Lila's parents are giving her. Her father, who is afraid he could love his job in Denver because of Lila, is going to look for a new job. Tess actually settles in to the new place fairly well, making friends with the neighbor boys and going to the rec center to play foosball. The boys have a team and very much want to enter a contest with a large monetary prize to help out two of their group who are struggling with an abusive mother. Tessa is still collecting the milk cartons, and her new friends think it's a bit quirky but go along with it. Tessa tries to help the group make money by having a Kool-Aid stand and trying to take a babysitting job, but when Lila goes into labor while her father is out of town, many of her plans fall through. The boys are able to play foosball without her and manage to help the boys, and Tessa becomes less anxious about the missing children while she becomes more invested with her new family.

Strengths: I like the fact that Tessa was dealing with her mother's death, but the more pressing issue was dealing with a sudden move, a step mother, and a new sibling. There are far more students who has to deal with blended families than with death, and relatively few books on the topic. The milk cartons with the missing children were worked in in a very clever way, and in the 1980s, the father would not have sought help for this behavior. The neighborhood kids and their drama added an extra level of interest. I enjoyed this one.
Weaknesses: I wanted to know more about Lila's hoarding behavior. Also, there was a LOT of concern about cleaning the milk cartons so they didn't smell like sour milk, but as someone who used milk cartons for a ton of craft projects (I stapled a bunch of quart cartons together to keep letters from my pen pals in), I know they were super easy to get clean and never smelled sour.
What I really think: Debating. This moved along quickly and was interesting to me, but I'm not sure if the time period will appeal to my students.