‘Family Week’ is a really sweet middle grade story that I absorbed in about 2 hours straight.

It follows a really dynamic cast of queer kids and kids of queer parents as their situations change and feelings change, but when they’re all back together at family week, it gives them a chance to figure it out with a friend. This story is told from all 4 perspectives of the kids but you never find yourself lost or wondering about perspective. Each one has their own ambitions, hopes, actions, behaviours. Every child is their own person who gets to explore how queerness touches their lives and those around them.

It’s about the family you forge all on your own and how important it is to fight for your joy in anyway you know how.

Loved the drag show! Loved the characters! Loved loved loved this sweet book! Definitely a gem i’ll highly recommend.

This was a cute, sweet, queer story about families, both found and chosen. Spending a week in Provincetown, MA for Family Week, enjoying activities both queer and hobby focused really showcases the discovery of one's self.

Overall, I enjoyed the story. I like that the chapters were literally each day of the week. However, there were parts that felt overly detailed and others that I would have loved to read more of. I don't know if that's because of the formatting or wanting to keep things shorter for the intended middle grade audience.

I really wanted to like Family Week, but it fell a little short for me. If you like sweet, straightforward, and family-driven, this could absolutely be a book you’ll enjoy. However, I felt like there wasn’t enough time spent on any individual plotline, and it often felt as though events were happening somewhat randomly rather than being unified by a continuous plot, particularly in the middle of the book.

Individually, I liked all of the characters, and their individual struggles were very vivid and relevant, with particularly poignant moments for each one. Personally, I connected a lot with Milo and Avery, and I loved the overall themes of acceptance and queer joy within a very contemporary society. It also did a really good job of creating a narrative that revolves around queer families and a sense of belonging. (And I love the cover!) As a whole, though, I didn’t feel like it quite hung together, maybe because the short length combined with the many points of view made it so that I never felt fully anchored in any one story until close to the end.

On a content-warning side, two of the major characters contemplate/attempt self-harm in the second half of the book, and though it’s left somewhat ambiguous, it’s more than worthy of a CW.

2.5 stars, rounded up because I truly do feel that some readers could enjoy this book, particularly younger middle schoolers - it just wasn’t for me!

Ever since they were 4, Milo, Lina, Mac, and Avery along with their families have spent a week in Providence, Rhode Island together. Now 10 years later, each is experiencing uncertainty about their future. Milo is a transgender teen who is unsure about leaving home to go to a progressive boarding school. Lina, Milo’s twin sent a letter to Avery confessing her crush and she’s not sure if Avery feels the same way. Avery’s fathers are splitting up and neither parent has noticed her shoplifting habit. Mac just failed 7th grade and isn’t sure what to do next. As the four spend a week together, they are forced to confront their shifting identities and relationships. Will the four teens figure out what they need to? Will Family Week end up being just what they needed?

The plot is heartwarming, engaging, and realistically done. The teens are authentic, easy to relate to, and believable. However, the parents come off as completely oblivious. Themes of LGBTQ+ identify, family separation, and growing up are handled tactfully. Readers who like realistic fiction, books like the Penderwicks series, and coming of age will want to pick this one up. Recommend for library collections where LGBTQ+ and realistic fiction books are popular. 4 stars, Gr 3 to 7.

Family Week follows Mac, Lina, Milo, and Avery who have celebrated Family Week in Provincetown, Massachusetts since they were young. This year there are so many changes that await them though so things feel different in their rented beach house. Avery’s dads are getting a divorce, and there’s a baby on the way. Milo didn’t pass seventh grade, so he feels that everyone is moving on to bigger and better things. Mac has been accepted to an amazing and progressive boarding school that is going to let him play soccer, but this means he is leaving his twin sister, Lina, and his moms behind at home. Lina feels like all these changes are happening regardless of how she feels. Avery, Mac, and Milo know that this is going to be their last summer together but Lina thinks differently. Lina has set out to prove to her friends that this is the best summer and good things last in Provincetown even if they don’t back at home.

What I Liked: This book is told in the third person and follows the story of Mac, Lina, Milo, and Avery who are navigating various changes in their lives. This story first goes through introduces you to each of the characters as they make their way to Provincetown before starting family week and sharing their experiences while there. We first get to meet Lina and Mac who are twins, this portion is told through Lina’s perspective as she struggles with the idea that her brother is moving away. You get to see her innermost feelings about this and follow along during the moment in which she finds this information out. The story then shows you what is happening in Avery’s life as her dads are getting a divorce and trying to keep this a secret from the other families at family week, then it shifts over to share with you Milo’s story and how he wants to ensure his mom doesn’t let the others know about him not passing seventh grade.

Throughout the time that the four friends are at Provincetown you get to see the various ways their home lives are impacting the relationships that they have with one another. Through this, you also get to see as they navigate their feelings and the negative effects that their actions have on one another. Each of the characters learns how to express themselves in various ways such as Avery expressing her feelings through a drag performance. Through the challenges that each of them face they learn the importance of not shutting others out and speaking their truth to solve problems.


Final Verdict: Family Week is a heartwarming book that shows the complexity of being a family and keeping secrets. Children ages 8 and up will enjoy seeing their struggles reflected in the four characters and will learn how to navigate complex feelings with the help of others. This is a perfect book for those who are looking for something to read during spring break or as we prepare for the summer season.

This book was sweet. I really enjoyed following along with these three families as they made their way to Family Week. The author does a wonderful job weaving in intense topics in a lighthearted tone and I think this is the perfect queer contemporary for kids who are looking for a found family trope. I do wish the ending was stretched out a little more. I think adding a little more to each kid's end game would have helped it not feel so fast paced, but overall I'm excited to recommend this to my middle grade patrons!

Just finished “Family Week” by Sarah Moon and I’m absolutely in love! This middle grade gem is a beautiful exploration of identity, acceptance, and the power of found family, all set against the backdrop of the vibrant and welcoming Provincetown, MA.

Sarah Moon has crafted a heartfelt narrative that resonates deeply with readers of all ages. The story follows four best friends—Mac, Lina, Milo, and Avery—who gather for their annual Family Week, but this time, everything feels different. With Avery’s family in turmoil, Mac facing academic challenges, and Milo preparing to leave for a new adventure, the stakes are higher than ever.

What I love most about this book is how it captures the bittersweet essence of growing up and the fear of change. Lina’s determination to make this summer unforgettable is both relatable and inspiring. Moon’s writing is infused with warmth and authenticity, making you feel like you’re right there in the beach house, riding the waves of joy and sorrow alongside these unforgettable characters.

“Family Week” is a celebration of love in all its forms—a must-read for any age, but especially those middle school, early high school readers. It reminds us that even as we grow and change, the bonds we create can last a lifetime.

This book hits shelves in April, and trust me, you won’t want to miss it! Mark your calendars and get ready for a beautiful journey filled with laughter, tears, and a whole lot of heart. Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

3.75 stars rounded up

This is a cute story that's great for middle schoolers about queer families - born and chosen. I loved the diversity. I liked that it touched on a variety of topics like divorce, pressure of perfectionism, crushes, and finding a passion.

I did not care for the writing style. I hated that POV swaps would happen from one paragraph to the next with no warning, especially when it was between two characters of the same gender.

Overall, it was a nice, quick read. I definitely recommend for 12-13 year olds.

Thank you to NetGalley and publisher for the opportunity to read and review.

This was such a heartfelt and genuine book with terrific queer representation that also addresses identity, divorce, coming of age, romantic feelings, friendship, family, and more! The main characters are 4 middle schoolers - Twins Milo and Lina, Avery, and Mac, and their respective families who come to Provincetown for a week every year at the largest LGBTQ+ family gathering in the states.

But this year, things are different, for all of the kids and their families.

Really appreciated the in depth storylines and character growth for each of the kids. I was rooting for them all! The only criticism I had is that the adults weren't too distinguishable to me, but they were more side characters and I appreciated the theme that sometimes parents don't know the answer to everything either.

Beautiful theme of family and togetherness! Excellent representation including lesbian, gay, bi, trans, asian, and learning disability. I know kids are going to appreciate this one!

Recommended for ages 10+.

Thanks NetGalley for the eARC

This was a really nice book focused on a group of LGBTQ+ Families. The book is laid out with some POV switching that could be jarring but I did not have a problem with it. I think the focus on the changes and how everyone is dealing with them is great for a middle grade novel since a lot of the younger readers may be dealing with similar issues. It’s also nice to have a book with a focus on so much diversity. Definitely a good read and fits greatly in the middle grade category.

I really loved Family Week! It is a great MG look at growing up in a queer family and what makes a family in general. I think all four of the main kiddos were really well written and their voices/struggles were completely clear. I wanted the adults to get it together a little bit more, but they were well written as well. Overall, a book with lots of heart & lovely queer vibes!

Thanks to NetGalley, Sarah Moon, and Random House Children's for the chance to read and review. M opinions are my own!

An abolutely fantastic book for kids. I could not put the book down once I began reading it. I cannot wait for it to be released. I will recommend it to everyone I know!

Four teens say before they start 8th grade this is the last summer they will spend visiting Ptown with their families during pride season. Each child is harboring secrets (moves the plot along) that along their trip will be revealed to one and another. I loved the bonds between characters. Thank you so much for this e-arc!

Three lgbtq famlies meet every year in Provincetown, MA, ever since the families first met when the children were four years old. They are now 13, and things have changed. One is in the middle of a divorce, one of the twins has been awarded a full-ride scholarship to a prestigious boarding school, one has a crush on one of the other girls, and one has nearly flunked out of school. Do they all share their secrets? Or do they keep them to themselves, so that nothing spoils the festivities.

Each of the kids has this sort of push and pull, not sure how much to share, and then sharing it. Unlike the adults, who don’t want to talk about it.

I do like how they know each other so well, despite only spending a week together every year. There is a certain fellowship that builds with doing the same things every year, but with slight variations.

The descriptions are great. One feels as though one is really in P-Town. And the whale trips that at first one of the kids hates, and then finds he loves.

This is a quick read, and I found I had trouble putting it down.

One nit I have is that I normally don’t like changes in point of view (POV) in the same section, just a paragraph apart. It is very jarring. But, that was the way this was written, so I gritted my teeth, and kept reading, because other than that, I enjoyed the story.

Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review. This book is coming out the 15th of April 2025.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for the e-ARC of Family Week!
5 / 5 ⭐

Family Week is a very cute - and very messy - tale of queer families colliding in the gayest town in America. Our young protags have to learn how to define family and find themselves during a weeklong vacation already jam-packed with traditions. Family Week is queer, trans, multiracial, and Jewish; within its pages, the concepts of gender, sexuality, and family are all expansive.

Family Week by Sarah Moon is a Queue contemporary Middle Grade set in Provincetown, Massachusetts. Twins Milo and Lina and their moms have celebrated Family Week with Avery and her dads and Mac and his mom every year for almost their whole lives. But everything is going to change this summer as the four get ready for big changes that come with growing up.

I rarely comment on covers, but given the political climate that I received this ARC in, I would be remiss not to. I believe the cover was finalized before November, but it seems like an act of defiance as of writing this on January 31st. It's unapologetically Queer with the trans and BIPOC-inclusive flag prominently displayed along with a transboy on the cover and a racially diverse cast of characters. There is no mistaking what this book is and, when I got approved, I actually cried tears of joy when I saw this cover again. I loved it before, but I love it so much more now.

This book had me tearing up multiple times because of how normalized Queerness is while still recognizing the political climate the book was written in. Milo is a transboy who started transitioning before the book starts. One of the reasons and he Lina’s mom's want him to go to an elite boarding school is because it will allow him to play soccer when bans on transgender athletes are keeping trans kids out of sports. The kids refer to themselves as ‘gaybies’ and make Queer jokes but, outside of Provincetown, they deal with being outsiders in a society with mostly heteronormative families.

Avery’s dads are in the middle of a divorce when the book opens and we get to see Avery's complicated relationship towards all of it. One of her dads is Bi/Pan-coded (the exact label is never used and it is instead explained as sexuality being a spectrum, which I felt was done more in a way to introduce that how we identify ourselves and our sexuality can change at any age and less out of reluctance to explicitly give it a label) and has started a new family with a female friend but still wants to be one of Avery's dads. Avery has a lot of complicated feelings around this and I thought it was very cool and important for kids to see that kids growing up in Queer houses can also struggle with divorce.

Lina is in the middle of her first crush and her own blossoming Queer identity (she's never given a label) as she is shown to be attracted to several girls and to want to start a relationship with her crush if her crush returns her feelings. Mac, meanwhile, is dealing with feeling inadequate next to Milo as Milo is a genius who has already skipped a grade and Mac almost had to repeat the seventh grade. I appreciated the journey that Mac and Milo had to go on to becoming friends again; their frustration with their own lives and each other were great foils for the target audience of middle school schoolers.

I would recommend this to young readers looking for books with a variety of Queer representation, readers looking for Middle Grade with Queer interracial relations and characters (particularly Jewish-Chinese and Black-Jewish) and those looking for shorter works affirming that trans children deserve as much love and consideration as any other child

It took a bit to get going, but once the story was properly underway this was a very sweet, heartwarming store about found family and growing up. Most of the child characters were fun and compelling (the only one who wasn't was Milo, whose interior monologue we see the least of) although most of the parents were exhausting in a way that seemed not quite right for kids of this age group. I'd be interested in knowing more about all four of these kids as they grow up - maybe future books?

This reminded me a bit of The Family Fletcher Takes Rhode Island and had the vibrant LGBTQIA+ community of Bunker's Zenobia July or Lukoff's Different Kinds of Fruit. The children had a number of typical problems (parents divorcing, having to move schools, sibling problems, personal identity, crushes) set against a summer vacation background.

Such a cute summer read! I loved the details about Provincetown and the Cape in general--it definitely made me want to visit. The four kids were very fleshed out, as were the secrets they kept from each other. I enjoyed the rapid fire bouncing between characters' perspectives. I also loved the Grey's Anatomy references! I devoured this in less than 24 hours and I'm excited to put it on summer-themed displays at the library in a few months.

Thank you NetGalley and Publisher for allowing me to read and review this book.

I very much enjoyed this book. The writing was great and the characters were well developed. I hope to read more from this author in the future.