WWW.PUBLISHERSWEEKLY.COM 69Review_CHILDREN’S
was born that her single mother deemed her
“too small for capital letters.” Since then,
she’s been told two things about that day:
diagnosed with alopecia, she “looked like
a naked mole rat,” and her birth saved her
mother, who suffers from acute anxiety. In
Brooklyn, kit resents her mom’s inability
to leave home and the savior role her
mother has thrust upon her (“kit” stands
for “keep it together”), especially after
her best friend, Clem, is hurt performing
on television with her acrobat family. This
event changes both girls: Clem hides the
secret of how she fell, and kit believes that
she turned into a naked mole rat when she
witnessed the tumble. The story picks
up a year later, and both friends are still
hiding their secrets. Together, they must
find the courage to confront difficult
truths. Rivers (The Girl in the Well Is Me)
realistically portrays the challenge of
living with anxiety and the pressures of
family responsibility. Complex and
moving, this story takes an unvarnished
look at what it means to be true to oneself
as well as loved ones. Ages 8–12. Agent:
Jennifer Laughran, Andrea Brown Literary.
(Oct.)The Class
Frances O’Roark Dowell. Atheneum/Dlouhy,
$17.99 (320p) ISBN 978-1-4814-8179-3
Sixth grade has started, and there’s a lot
going on in Ms. Herrerra’s class. New girl
and budding author Ellie, who struggles
to make friends, decides to write a book
about her school. Becca has always been a
teacher’s pet, but she can’t win over Ms.
Herrerra, which
inspires her to
act out with the
help of popular
mean girl Petra,
who wants to
make some
changes herself.
Petra’s former
best friend,
Rosie, is not too
happy about
Petra acting so differently, though shy,
kind Stefan is thrilled when Petra agrees
to attend a dance with him. Despite their
varying concerns, the classmates unite
when beloved Ms. Herrerra finds herself
on thin ice with the school principal over
an occurrence that happened the previousable message about the dangers of
making snap judgments and the value of
making amends—and friends. Ages 6–10.
(Oct.)Fiction
★ Dear Sweet Pea
Julie Murphy. HarperCollins/Balzer + Bray,
$16.99 (288p) ISBN 978-0-0624-7307-3
Seventh grader Patricia “Sweet Pea”
DiMarco contends with her parents’
divorce, shifting friendships, and newfound
self-awareness in this praiseworthy middle
grade debut from YA author Murphy
(Dumplin’). Along with Cheese, her “fifteen-
pound orange tabby,” Sweet Pea shuttles
between her family’s original house in
Valentine, Tex., where her mother still
lives, and the nearly identical home two
doors down,
where her father
now resides,
unsettled and
frustrated by
her parents’
split and her
dad’s recent
coming out.
Recruited by
her neighbor,
eccentric local
advice columnist Miss Flora Mae, to
manage her mail while she’s out of town,
Sweet Pea recognizes the handwriting on
one letter and can’t stop herself from
opening—and responding to—some of
the others, throwing her friendships into
disarray as she navigates the line between
right and wrong. As with her books for
older readers, Murphy creates a richly
imagined protagonist who shines in her
strength, humor, and self-confidence;
Sweet Pea is also plus-size by today’s
standards and is accepting and unashamed
of her body. With gentle humor, ageless
wisdom, and charming, genuine characters
who represent a diversity of experiences,
Murphy’s novel offers all the emotional
highs and lows of pitch-perfect middle
grade. Ages 8–12. (Oct.)Naked Mole Rat Saves the World
Karen Rivers. Algonquin, $16.95 (304p)
ISBN 978-1-61620-724-3
Eleven-year-old kit was so tiny when shesisters, react to
peoples’ initial
preference for
Day’s light. In
frustration,
Night retreats,
taking dreams
and secrets with
her, until Day,
and humankind,
begin to miss Night: “we need you just
the way you are.” Though the fable strikes
one odd note (“we need you so that we
can... keep our secrets to ourselves”), the
story draws its power from graceful prose
by actress Nyong’o, making her authorial
debut, and expertly executed animation-
style art by Harrison (Little Leaders: Bold
Women in Black History). By turns beguiling
(as when Sulwe’s mother counsels her
tearful daughter) and magical (a shooting
star darts into Sulwe’s room to share the
story of Night and Day), the volume also
clearly conveys that colorism is real, and it
hurts. Sulwe’s story confronts it head-on,
with words and images that celebrate the
“dark and beautiful, bright and strong.”
Ages 4–8. (Oct.)
Wintercake
Lynne Rae Perkins. Greenwillow, $17.99 (48p)
ISBN 978-0-06-289487-8
Brimming with whimsy, this tale by
Newbery Medalist Perkins (Criss Cross)
introduces two pals who find a new friend
when they set out to right a wrong. When
chirpy bird Lucy visits bear-like Thomas,
the earnest fellow is distressed (“bereft...
forlorn”) that he has lost the basket of
dried fruit he intended to use to bake a
traditional confection (“A Winter’s Eve
without wintercake. I ask you, what kind
of holiday is that?”). Flying home in a
blizzard, Lucy takes refuge in a bustling
tearoom, where chatty animals comment
on the inclement weather in diverting
snippets of conversation—and she over-
hears one “tall, sleek” customer remark
that he has found a basket of dried fruit,
“perfect for wintercake.” Outraged, Lucy
follows the “vile beast,” only to discover
that he is returning the fruit to Thomas,
who, relieved, suggests that he and the
bird bake a wintercake, launching a
heartwarming annual tradition. Perkins’s
charmingly detailed, fanciful art and
spontaneous narrative deliver an irrefut-
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