Sixth grader Zia is a word nerd. She loves words and is an expert at making up her own words if she can’t find a word that fits a specific situation. Zia’s world changes suddenly when the “Shadoom” descends upon her while at a friend’s birthday party. This feeling of darkness causes her to lose interest in spending time with her friends and leads her to opt to eat her lunch alone in a bathroom stall at school. Zia is hesitant to tell her already stressed and stretched mother about her feelings of sadness. When Zia’s grandmother moves in with Zia and her mom because of her worsening dementia, she brings with her a mysterious dictionary with a charmed eraser that allows the user to erase words. Initially Zia finds pleasure in erasing words like pain and fear from the dictionary, but she discovers that the removal of words results in some significant consequences. Zia needs to find a way to return the words to restore order to the world and to restore her own peace and happiness. This book does a beautiful job of addressing the challenging but important topics of depression and mental health in a way that will be accessible to a middle grade audience.

The idea of being able to erase things out of existence is an interesting one, and it's clever to use that to talk about important issues like depression and family difficulties. Zia was an engaging main character whose story I enjoyed!

This is a fabulous book. I was not sure what to expect, but I found there to be just the right amount of magical realism to balance the true reality of depression and its affects on children and young adults. Zia is living a normal life until the night the Shadoom first visits; the Shadoom is a place where Zia gets lost in the reality and pressures of daily life. The Shadoom haunts her day and night, affecting her every thought. The Shadoom, Zia's word for the murky shadows of doubt and fear which follow her, is gaining strength until one day she pays a visit to her Greek grandmother's attic, Zia discovers a way to erase those fears which follow her when she finds a family heirloom: the C. Scuro Dictionary, 13th Edition. Slowly Zia begins to erases those fears which are within her. As Zia regains confidence and light in her life, she makes a new friend, and her life begins to feel a little more normal. However, once again the Shadoom begins to creep back and the shadows gain strength. Zia must face her fears, or risk erasing herself and all that is truly important to her.

This book is a gift to the world. In light of all these banned book discussions in our news today, I think it is even more relevant that young readers have a chance to find books to resonate to them for whatever reason - mostly to know they are not alone. Kids need the chance to see themselves somewhere in a book, and I truly hope that if some child needs it, they find this book.