Lizzie's class has an assignment to write to a penpal; the teacher has arranged with another teacher for this assignment. Lizzie decides to send her letter in a bottle that she throws in the lake (or ocean?).

Lizzie ends up corresponding via email to the person who finds her letter in a bottle. Lizzie's writing is very fun to read and I very much enjoyed Melody J. Bremen's writing. This book is a middle grade book.

Highly recommended.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Melody J. Bremen (who self published! From the Desk of Lizzie Lazowski!). I love that the author named her computer Oswald. Approximately 300 pages.

Debating between 4 and 5 stars. Even though I really like this book, I've decided to go with 4 stars and separately communicating to the author why. I definitely want to read additional books by Melony J. Bremen.

This was a fantastic book that I'd recommend to any kid who likes Restart, From the Desk of Zoe Washington, and When You Find Me. It deals with friendships, moving on from past trauma, dealing with changes you aren't ready to accept, and caring for the elderly in a meaningful, dignified way. I cried while I read it, seeing Lizzie deal with a whirlwind of an eighth grade year through letters between herself and a mysterious pen pal, as well as text messages, transcripts, and bulletin board posts. The 'mixed media' aspect was a great addition, as it helped break up some of the more action-and-emotion-packed letters from Lizzie herself. I'll be recommending this book to our patrons!

When I was approved for this book, the first thing I did was buy the companion novel, The Boy who Painted the World and I'm glad I did. The books would stand alone perfectly well but I really enjoyed how they linked together and I'm wondering if the author plans to centre any more books on characters in this world. I hope so as there are others I definitely want to hear more about.

The story is about Lizzie who lives with her mum, the manager of an assisted living facility. Lizzie spends a lot of time there and the residents have become part of her extended family. I really enjoyed these bits of the book and loved how different all of these characters were.

At school, Lizzie has a pen pal project and so writes a letter and throws it into the sea. She is surprised when someone writes back to her and when this person doesn't tell her who they are, Lizzie is determined to work it out.

On top of all of this, Lizzie has decided that she wants to attend the prestigious Northcrest High School for the Arts. The only way this could happen is if she wins the prize of a full scholarship by entering a competition to create the best project about a real person. Lizzie decides to make a documentary with the help of new potential best friend, Chloe, but things soon become more difficult than anticipated.

All in all, this was a great story from an author I'd previously not known and I'm looking forward to seeing what she does next.

Although she is a kind and intelligent youngster, 12 year old Lizzie finds it hard to make friends. That might have something to do with the fact that Lizzie herself is a childhood cancer survivor, and is wary of being pitied.

Or it could be that as the daughter of a single parent, she spends a lot of time at her mother's workplace - an old people's care home - and gets along better with old people than her peers.

Be that as it may, Lizzie holds that she doesn't really need friends. What she *does* need is a really good idea that will get her the single scholarship currently available to the school of her dreams. But what if that costs her the best shot she's ever had at having a friend her own age?

Lizzie pours out her ideas, adventures and worries to the pen pal she has acquired by somewhat unorthodox means. But will "Grand Slammer", who's a grown up, be able to help her figure it all out? And who is he anyway?

This is a touching, smart story about an unusual kid, which teaches the value of empathy and intergenerational connection. It is an excellent choice for the target age group, and gets 3.5 stars.

I recieved a free eARC of this book. Thank you for the opportunity to read it.

Lizzie is the youngest in her class, having skipped a grade when on homebound instruction for 2 years for cancer. When her teacher assigns the class the assignment of writing to a pen pal, Lizzie decides to drop a bottle in the ocean, and thereby meets "Grand Slammer".

Her story unfolds via letters to/from her pen pal. She talks about her desire to go to a private, arts focused high school and her struggles to create a documentary film about her life as her scholarship audition, her mother's boyfriend, and the senior citizens at the center where her mother is activities director. She also talks about her friendships...or lack thereof.

This is a sweet, relatable, funny book. As a reader, I figured out Grand Slammer's identity long before Lizzie did, but her trying to figure out who he was kept the story moving. While it was frustrating to see her struggle in her relationships with Chloe and Francesca, it was also realistic, and relatable. I believe middle school kids will enjoy Lizzie's story, find her relatable, and maybe, just maybe, realize that there are kids at their school who are more than just one thing,

Finally, it's been wonderful to see more books that talk about the deep value that cross-generational friendships hold. This is the third book I've reviewed in the last few months with this premise, and while each has approached it differently, all show just how wonderful, and often overlooked, seniors, particularly in retirement communities, are and how much kids benefit from having them and their lived experience in their lives. Hopefully, by including these books in schools, libraries, and maybe even assigning them for class reading and unit studies (this would be a great book to compare with "Not Nothing" and "Old School") kids will start to look for those friendships, too.

This was a cute and creative story about a young teen navigating school and figuring out who she is. Told from the perspective of emails to and from an anonymous pen pal. While going back and forth about the highs and lows of Lizzie's life, the big mystery is who is this helpful friend? Will Lizzie ever figure it out?

I really enjoyed Lizzie's spunk and big personality, however, I do wish we got more from her pen pal. Lizzie's letter's would be pages long and then the mystery writer's would be a few short sentences. This was only a minor inconvenience for me; overall I thought this was a great read!

A charming MG read about young teen, Lizzie, who gains a mysterious pen pal by placing a letter into a bottle, then tossing it into the ocean. A sensitive tale about adjusting to adolescent, life change, and the challenges of making friends. Recommended!

Thank you, author, for the advance reading copy.

This is such a delightful read!

After such a long time, we are getting to read a middle grade book (or for that matter a book) with pen pals, letter / email writing!

I love how comforting and genuine the writing is.

Just grab this book. The characters (both young and old) are quite realistic.

I love the reveal towards the end. It’s so heartwarming.

The only part which felt repetitive was a bit before the first half. Otherwise the book is good!

This was a cute story of a very dramatic (sorry Lizzie) 13-year-old who has to cope with some significant life changes, all the while continuing to figure out who she is and what she wants. It is told through a series of emails between Lizzie and her anonymous pen pal, who found the bottle she threw into the ocean with a letter in it, instead of writing the kid she was assigned to by her teacher. We did the physical letter pen-pal exercise when I was in elementary school and I remember whoever wrote to me, their letter was super late!

I thought Lizzie was the typical teen seeing everything through the everchanging lens of life that one looks through when that age. I enjoyed her flair for writing and the back and forth between her and her mystery friend. I appreciated that this book talks about how hard it is to make friends regardless of age and Lizze is right, there should be rules for such things.

Middle grade readers will enjoy this tale as they try to navigate their own ever-changing situations. And one of the seniors is right, there is nothing wrong with hanging out with the older generation. You wouldn't believe the stories they have to tell.

My thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

One day Lizzie decides to put a letter in the bottle and flings it into the ocean. When she receives an anonymous response, emails start back and forth between Lizzie and GrandSlammer. One day Lizzie meets Chloe at the assisted living facility where Lizzie’s mom works and Chloe is waiting to be picked by her dad. The two become friends and have lunch together at school. Lizzie’s mom is dating Kenny and Lizzie isn’t sure how she feels about him. Then Lizzie finds out something about Kenny she didn’t know and is shocked. Lizzie gets some good advice from GrandSlammer and wonders who the person is. Does she find out?
Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the eARC of this book. All opinions are my own.