If there were ever a book I wanted to hug to my chest upon finishing, it’s this one. As a special education teacher, books about kids dealing with struggles and disabilities are my jam. Especially when those characters are treated with dignity and respect. I was amazed at the depth and insight this middle grade novel had. Highly highly recommend!

I LOVED this book! The main character, who has a sensory processing disorder, finds herself in difficult circumstances, but it's handled gently enough for the intended audience. Her voice was so authentic; I couldn't put this down!

Thank you to the publisher and @NetGalley for allowing me to read this absolutely fantastic book. Jamie Sumner has done it again. She brings to life what it is like to have a sensory processing disorder. Lou faces many challenges in her life, having to leave her mom and live with her aunt and uncle, going to school for the first time in a long time and even coming to terms with her disorder and need for help. It is a beautiful story about finding friendship, love of family, and standing up for yourself. I cannot wait to share this book with teachers and students.

I love finding new titles that children can relate to, especially those with particular disorders. Many children may have a disorder that isn't obvious when you see them and to have stories that they can read and relate to is very important. This was especially true for Jamie Sumner's "Tune It Out". I haven't read a book yet in children's fiction that focused on a sensory process disorder and it allowed me an inside look as to what it is like but really made for a wonderful story. Our main character Lou Montgomery is highly sensitive to sounds and touch. She and her mom are simply trying to make it, or at least her mom is trying to make it with the help of Lou's singing capabilities. Lou however one day crashes her mom's truck picking her mom up from work, which she of course should not have been driving because she is only 12. She is taken away from her mom and sent to live with her aunt and uncle. This story shows us what it's like for Lou and how she reacts to sounds and touch, but also the difficulties she is facing with her family issues. This was story that touched on many different from family life, making new friends, dealing with sensory processing disorder and more. I do felt it was a little rushed at the end, but nevertheless, Lou really learns how to overcome so much which I find to be so important for our young readers. Definitely one to recommend!

Louise Montgomery has a beautiful voice and is often forced to perform on stage with her mother. Unfortunately for Lou, she hates it and wishes she didn’t have to perform and attempt to “make it big” as her mother wishes. These shows are how Lou helps her mom put food in their stomachs and gas in the truck that they live in.

Lou struggles with sensory processing disorder (SPD) and is neglected by her mother, Jill. This is not done in a malicious way as Jill loves her daughter, but she is unable to provide for Lou in all of the ways she needs and deserves. Jill also works as a waitress and refuses to accept handouts from anyone. Jill even sees simple services or accommodations for Lou at school as a handout, so instead of getting help for her daughter, they frequently flee to new places and she doesn’t attend school. Lou is very smart, but is extremely sensitive to being touched and to sounds, especially loud noises. These sensory stimuli are actually very painful for her, and performing exacerbates her condition.

One snowy night Lou drives to pick up her mom from her waitressing shift, as she often does, and gets into an accident. Child Protective Services becomes involved and Lou is sent to stay with her Aunt Ginger and her Uncle Dan across the country. Life is much better with her aunt and uncle and Lou ends up making friends, getting help with her SPD, and being loved and cared for as she should have been all along.

Jamie Sumner is becoming one of my favorite authors and this is one of the best middle grade books I have read in quite a while. Her character development is stellar and she discusses difficult topics like foster care, poverty, and SPD, in a way that is engaging and inspiring. Invisible disabilities are real and topics like these often aren’t covered in children’s literature so a book like this will help increase the awareness and compassion for children dealing with these challenges.

My only critique would be wishing the chapters were more evenly spaced, some felt super quick while others felt very long. Overall it’s an inspiring, hopeful, and engaging read on a topic not often covered in middle grade literature; this is definitely a plus in my book because there is a need for books featuring more inclusivity, sensitivity, and compassion. I will definitely be purchasing this book for my library.

This book was sad, hopeful, funny, and sweet all rolled into one. Lou is 12 years old and lives with her mom in a truck. That is, until she is forced to leave her mom and move to a new town. She makes friends and goes to a school, things she didn't do before. But she still isn't sure who she should live with. This book is so sweet and a perfect read for kids ages 9-11.

Sumner does a great job writing characters who feel like real kids, fully realized people who lived before the book began and live on after it's finished. Lou's story isn't quite the same as any of the other stories I've read in this genre, and I think the level of detail within the child neglect portion of the story is appropriate for a middle grade novel. Spending the time and space on exploring Lou's sensory disorder was an excellent choice, one that makes this book stronger. This is a story that will make kids feel seen, and will help to bring an understanding to others. Worth the read and inclusion in a classroom or school library.

Twelve-year-old Louise Montgomery´s mother has high expectations for her baby girl. Though homeless and living in their truck at a campsite, Lou´s mom believes her daughter´s singing voice will be their ticket to a better life. When an accident involves underage Lou behind the wheel, their dreams of the next gig in LA are shattered. Instead, Lou finds herself being shuffled to a new home by child protective services. Lou soon discovers a part of her life she never knew existed, and she quickly realizes that her mother´s dream is not her own.

Lou has always felt different. Disturbed by loud noises, physical touch, and even the feel of her own clothes against her skin, she suffers through painful experiences and tries to cope in the only ways she has ever known. Since she is finally going to school regularly, Lou has a new opportunity to make friends, but she wonders if they will still like her if they find out she isn't ¨normal.¨ With new support systems in place, Lou learns that she has SPD, or sensory processing disorder. Armed with new coping strategies and a supportive friend named Maxwell, Lou also has the opportunity to become empowered and decide her own future path. Will her mother be a part of it? Will Lou be able to trust people when she isn't sure they will accept her?

Jamie Sumner´s Tune It Out is an exceptional middle-grade book. The author gives attention to a disorder many aren't familiar with in a detailed and compassionate way that builds empathy. It's uplifting messages of healthy relationships, acceptance, and empowerment makes this an important read for young and old alike. This is a heart-warming story with complex characters and a seamless plotline. It's the kind of book that reads as though it fell onto the pages effortlessly. Sumner gifted us with a beautiful young lady learning to understand herself and the complicated world that surrounds her, especially the dynamics of a troubled mother-daughter relationship. Ultimately, this is a story about accepting ourselves and understanding not only limitations but the power of opportunities. I highly recommend this book for ages 10 and up.

Thanks to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster's Children's Publishing for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

**Must read Middle Grade novel!**

Tune It Out is a story about a girl with a beautiful voice, learning how to use it. Complicating matters is her sensory processing disorder and a mother who loves her dearly but will do anything to evade those who might be able to help them.

When child services separates Lou from her mother she must live with family she doesn't know and confront a barrage of questions that she didn't know she had about herself, her mother, and the family she has never had a relationship with.

With the help of her new-found family, her school counselor, a new friend at school and music, Lou must learn to find her voice.

Lou's story is one of acceptance
*accepting who you are
*accepting those around you (and loving them through their faults)
*accepting help

Read this and share it widely!

Five sparkly, sensory-aware stars for this new book from the author of "Roll With It." Jamie Sumner, you have done it again! A girl who is being replanted with additional challenges learns to shine and grow in a new place -- with the help of some fantastic supporting characters. Lou is such a lovable girl and you can't help but empathize with her and the land mines that lurk for someone with SPD. Thank you to Jamie Sumner for bringing this condition out into the light of middle grade lit so that other kids have a window into life with the challenges that go along with it. The more you know, the more you know. I hope to see this one on the Newbery list of nominees in 2021.

Thank you to Simon and Schuster and NetGalley for a DRC in exchange for an honest review.

I adored this book.

It is about a 12 year old girl who knows something about her isn't quite right, she's not normal, but she has no words to describe exactly what is wrong. When she is taken from her mother by child protective services who saw the situation as neglect and sent to live with an aunt th ousands of miles away.

At the school Lou attends, her counselor tests her and learns that what she has is Sensory Perception Disorder (SPD). Her counselor teaches her learn strategies to help her deal with her disability.

Her school was putting on the play "Into the Woods" and I found the theater directors interpretation of the play and what it meant perfect for Lou's own story.

Lou learns about her mother's past, goes to school and makes friends there. She sees how much her aunt and uncle love her and becomes comfortable with people other than her mother.

This was really a great book!
I don’t buy many books for this age group...I direct a church library and most kids have to read books on reading lists from public school. I do think I’ll purchase this one, though. The author really helped the reader understand what it was like to have SPD. Though I’ve never known anyone that had this (at least to my knowledge), I can see that it would be a challenge to manage life with it.
Kudos to the author!
I received a copy of this book from the publisher via net galley in exchange for an honest review.

Lou has SPD, or sensory processing disorder. Sound and touch affect her differently than others. She’s been living in a truck with her mom and sings at open mic nights, which she hates. After an accident, CPS sends her to live with an aunt and uncle she doesn’t know and Lou wonders what will happen next. Did she ever really know her mom? Does she want to go back to her? This is a wonderful story that tackles so many important issues. I love that spotlights SPD, since it’s something many aren’t aware of.

3.5, rounded up—while this isn’t an #ownvoices novel, Sumner’s bio indicates that she has a child with special needs. This personal experience comes through when she writes about Lou, a middle-school girl with Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD). The aspects of SPD and homelessness/poverty are really well done; Lou’s neglectful mother, though potentially triggering, was also effective, as was Lou’s new friends and support system.

The chief weakness, for me, was in the writing—my biggest pet peeve is MG or YA authors whose narrative voice sounds very much like an adult rather than an age-appropriate portrayal. This was the case here, which gave Lou an almost detached feel.

This middle-grade novel tells the story of Lou Montgomery, a 12-year-old who struggles from a sensory processing disorder (SPD). Lou lives alone with her mom, but after Lou crashes their truck on a snowy night when she is going to pick up her mom from work, she is separated from her mom by child services. Lou is sent to live with her aunt and uncle, who she doesn't know. While there she makes friends for the first time, starts to succeed in school, and learns more about her SPD. She is ultimately faced with the hard decision of whether or not she would like to be reunited with her mom, and leave behind this new life.

Sumner does an excellent job of writing a captivating and compelling story. Lou is a lovable character that you can't help but root for. The supporting characters are also well rounded and likable. The portrayal of SPD feels to be delicately handled to avoid stereotypes. Overall this is a good representation of a middle-grade novel portraying a character with SPD.

Thanks to Netgalley for providing me with an eArc of this book in return for an honest review.

3.5 stars

This was a sweet book! It follows Lou, who is sent to live with her aunt and uncle who she has never met, after she gets into a car crash while driving to pick her mom up from work (and she's only 12!). If that isn't difficult enough, Lou also has an undiagnosed sensory processing disorder. While I don't have much experience with SPD, I felt like the author did a good job of representing it (or at least, one person's experience of it). I also really liked that the school Lou enrolls in realizes right away that she has SPD (as a teacher, I get sick sometimes of reading books where the teachers/school are so clueless or outright mean to students with differences). I liked this book better than the author's previous, "Roll With It".

12-year-old Louise Montgomery has the voice of an angel and her mother is determined to make her a star. Louise, however hates crowds, loud noises, people touching her and performing which her mother forces her to do. They live in their truck and mom works at various coffee shops. When Louise has an accident driving the truck, the authorities step in and Louise is placed with an aunt and uncle she doesn't know. Being enrolled in school for the first time, Louise learns to trust the adults around her and learns that she can manage her Sensory Processing disorder. Louise is a child that is very easy to empathize with and her struggles to protect her mom and keep their homelessness a secret are very real. We cheer for her as she makes new discoveries and learns how to deal with the adults in her life.

I want to say this right now!! As a future librarian, I will be pressing this into the hands of middle grade readers for years to come! I am a mom of 3 children with varying degrees of sensory processing disorder and a former foster parent, and I thought this book was spot on. The rawness and realness of Lou's character as a child suffering from a disorder she doesn't understand and a child being swept away into child protective services was heart-wrenching and so important for other children and other adults to understand. The group of friends she makes at her new school is a wonderful addition to this already very diverse book. There's also a music and theater aspect that I loved as well. I'm loving the big revival of theater I'm seeing in middle grade and young adult books right. Can't forget about those theater kids!! This definitely a 5 star read and one that should be known to middle grade readers, librarians, teachers, and parents alike, so everyone can understand that there are disabilities that you can't see and so that those that are battling these things are not alone!

This post will be available on my blog and instagram on 8.28.20

Twelve-year-old Lou's amazing voice could be her ticket out of poverty. Unfortunately, she has performance issues that go well beyond stage fright. Loud noises and human contact send her spiraling, so her mother keeps her out of school and off the radar. Then there's an accident and child services makes her go live with her aunt Ginger. Everything is a shock to her system: the sudden abundance, the fancy school, having friends. Though she misses her mom fiercely, she begins to build a life out from under her loving but stifling shadow. A poignant story of perseverance and and growth.

I am an advocate of #ownvoices authors and while I recognize the author has a heart for children with special needs, as well as personal connections, this is not a #ownvoices narrative. However, I recognize that children need to see books that represent themselves in the pages, so until there are similar books with own voices authors I will definitely be purchasing Sumner's book to add to my classroom and school libraries.