Rule of Threes
Mercy Suarez meets The Thing About Jellyfish in this novel about what happens when "perfect" is out of your control. A classic middle grade story told with honesty, nuance, and depth, in the tradition of Rebecca Stead, Holly Goldberg Sloan, and Jerry Spinelli.
How do you share a parent with a stranger?
Maggie's accustomed to leading her life perfectly according to her own well-designed plans. But when Maggie learns that she has a half-brother her own age who needs a place to stay, any semblance of a plan is shattered. Tony's mom struggles with an addiction to opioids, and now she's called upon Maggie's dad - who's also Tony's dad - to take him in.
As Maggie struggles to reconcile her mom and dad's almost-divorce, accept the Alzheimer's afflicting her grandmother, and understand Tony's own issues - ignorance is no longer an option. While Maggie can strive for - and even succeed in - a perfect design, when it comes to family, nothing is perfect, and tackling its complexities is only possible with an open heart.
Heart-wrenching, authentic, and darkly funny, this is a spectacularly written portrayal of the ways we respond to intense change, and proof that no matter the circumstances, the unexpected things are often the best ones.
Marcy Campbell lives in Ohio with her family and menagerie of rescued pets. Her writing for adults has been published widely in journals and magazines, including Salon. She is the author of Adrian Simcox Does Not Have a Horse. This is her first novel.
Author: Marcy Campbell
Format: Hardback, 320 pages, 155mm x 213mm, 590 g
Published: 2021, Chronicle Books, United States
Genre: Children's Fiction
Interest Age: From 10 to 16 years
Mercy Suarez meets The Thing About Jellyfish in this novel about what happens when "perfect" is out of your control. A classic middle grade story told with honesty, nuance, and depth, in the tradition of Rebecca Stead, Holly Goldberg Sloan, and Jerry Spinelli.
How do you share a parent with a stranger?
Maggie's accustomed to leading her life perfectly according to her own well-designed plans. But when Maggie learns that she has a half-brother her own age who needs a place to stay, any semblance of a plan is shattered. Tony's mom struggles with an addiction to opioids, and now she's called upon Maggie's dad - who's also Tony's dad - to take him in.
As Maggie struggles to reconcile her mom and dad's almost-divorce, accept the Alzheimer's afflicting her grandmother, and understand Tony's own issues - ignorance is no longer an option. While Maggie can strive for - and even succeed in - a perfect design, when it comes to family, nothing is perfect, and tackling its complexities is only possible with an open heart.
Heart-wrenching, authentic, and darkly funny, this is a spectacularly written portrayal of the ways we respond to intense change, and proof that no matter the circumstances, the unexpected things are often the best ones.
Marcy Campbell lives in Ohio with her family and menagerie of rescued pets. Her writing for adults has been published widely in journals and magazines, including Salon. She is the author of Adrian Simcox Does Not Have a Horse. This is her first novel.