The Places We Sleep

A family divided, a country going to war, and a girl desperate to feel at home converge in this stunning novel in verse.


Selected for Kids Indies Introduce List AND Kids Indie Next List

It's early September 2001, and twelve-year-old Abbey is the new kid at school. Again.

I worry about people speaking to me / and worry just the same / when they don't.

Tennessee is her family's latest stop in a series of moves due to her dad's work in the Army, but this one might be different. Her school is far from Base, and for the first time, Abbey has found a real friend: loyal, courageous, athletic Camille.

And then it's September 11. The country is under attack, and Abbey's "home" looks like it might fall apart. America has changed overnight.

How are we supposed / to keep this up / with the world / crumbling / around us?

Abbey's body changes, too, while her classmates argue and her family falters. Like everyone around her, she tries to make sense of her own experience as a part of the country's collective pain. With her mother grieving and her father prepping for active duty, Abbey must learn to cope on her own.

Written in gorgeous narrative verse, Abbey's coming-of-age story accessibly portrays the military family experience during a tumultuous period in our history. At once personal and universal, it's a perfect read for fans of sensitive, tender-hearted books like The Thing About Jellyfish.


An NCTE Notable Book in Poetry
A Bank Street Best Children's Book of the Year