Ginny Off the Map is a sweet look at a military family during deployment. When Ginny’s family moves, they aren’t also planning on her dad being deployed at the same time. He was supposed to be there with them for 6 months before he deployed. Ginny thrives on facts, routines, and having her dad there. Her sister, Allie, makes friends easily and is good at sports. After several disappointments, Ginny feels like her family is falling apart without her dad. What she failed to realize, is that everyone is lost without her dad there, not just her. When she starts to take other people’s feelings into consideration, she figures out how to get along with the neighborhood kids and her sister better. Deployment is hard for everyone involved and this was a very real look at how families deal with it.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the advance copy in exchange for a review. All opinions expressed are my own.

My Thoughts:

This upper elemenary children's book is about two sisters who are very close in age but very different in talents, personalities and friends. When their physician father is deployed to Afghanistan at the same time the family is moving to a new town, the two sisters and their mother are each facing challenges individually. The support glue that holds them together, their dad, is too far away to help with the major meltdown that is coming to the three characters.

The main character, Ginny is a geography buff who can spout off facts and "did you knows" and tie anything to her knowledge of geography. However, only her dad seems to understand her. Her sister is a talented athlete who makes friends easily while Ginny is socially awkward. Until the three of them are really tested, Ginny feels like the black hole of her life continues to threaten to swallow her.

This is especially for those kids that feel like they are misunderstood, picked on, bullied, or laughed at. Hopefully, they will learn, alongside Ginny that following your own true North is the only way to gain confidence and self-esteem.

From the Publisher:
There are two things Ginny Pierce loves most in the world: geography facts and her father. But when her dad is deployed overseas and Ginny’s family must move to yet another town, not even her facts can keep her afloat. The geography camp she’s been anxiously awaiting gets canceled, and her new neighbors prefer her basketball-star sister. Worst of all, her dad is in a war zone and impossible to get ahold of. Ginny decides that running her own camp for the kids on her street will solve all her problems. But can she convince them (and herself) that there's more to her than just facts?

With a fierce heart and steadfast determination, Ginny tackles the challenges and rewards of staying true to herself during a season of growth. This thoughtful novel explores the strength that develops through adversity; Ginny must learn to trust her inner compass as she navigates the world around her.

Product Details:
Author: Caroline Hickey
Publisher: Christy Ottaviano Books (June 20, 2023)

MG novel about a possibly (there is no formal diagnosis but symptoms aplenty) neurodiverse rising middle schooler who struggles to fit in in her new neighborhood and family during her father’s military deployment. The story is highly readable despite a difficult to like main character and readers with an interest in autism and the experience of military families during deployment from a child’s perspective. Could function as a launchpad to hold friendly discussions about taking an interest in other people

Ginny is a gifted student with a passion for geography. Her family must move from N. Carolina to Maryland right after school has let out. To make things even harder, Dad is deployed as an Army doctor in Afghanistan. Her sister settles in easily, in Ginny's mind anyway, because Allie's interests are more "normal". Geography camp is canceled, and Ginny is forced to choose one of the few options remaining: jewelry camp. She struggles with it and tells her mom she will not be going back, instead, she will start her own geography camp on her own street. Her sibling rivalry becomes more intense, Dad communicates far less than they thought he would, her magnet school application is denied, and her anger bubbles over.

Told in first person with interesting facts starting each chapter, this coming of age novel will delight fans of Judy Blume and Lisa Greenwald.

Ginny’s summer is thrown off when her dad gets a surprise redeployment in the middle of their family’s moving to another city. Then, her geography camp gets canceled. Her sister seems to be making new friends, but no one appears to like Ginny–even when she starts her own geography camp. This sweet, unique young middle grade book made my heart grow and ache for Ginny and her family as they navigated a season of change. Features illustrations and a new geography fact in each chapter.

I loved this book so much and didn't want it to end. I loved Ginny and all her random facts!
Being apart of a military family has to be tough. The moving and the parent being gone has to be hard.
Ginny and Allie are going through so much with moving and making new friends and trying to find where they fit in.
I liked learning more about all these characters and I would read more books about them in the future.

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC!

Absolutely adored this book! Love the idea of learning how to be a good friend and sister to those around you. I appreciated the fun and unique geography habits; I love a protagonist with a unique habit. Fun, thought-provoking, and cute read.