MOUNTAIN UPSIDE DOWN

A 13-year-old learns to accept help when everything in her life starts shifting.

Right after she’s worked up the courage to share her romantic feelings for PJ, the girl who’s been her best friend for years, everything in Alexandra Eager’s life starts to go off-kilter. Her grandmother, who’s cared for her since her mother’s death from complications of childbirth, is becoming more confused and forgetful. Alex’s local library, where she’s on the Youth Council, faces possible funding cuts, and beloved librarian Alonso is doing his best to be positive despite the dreary outlook. Matters go from bad to worse when PJ announces that she and her moms are moving. Alex’s desperate fear of losing PJ pushes her to make a dangerous decision, and things quickly fall apart. But the reveal of a family secret unexpectedly leads to a new way forward and expands Alex’s support system. Although few tidy resolutions appear at the end, the story contains plenty of comfort and compassion. Alex and PJ’s budding romance is gentle and sweet, with realistic complications and heartfelt emotions that are well suited to their ages. Alex’s grandmother’s worsening dementia raises big questions of familial responsibility and elder care that will be familiar to many readers, while the parallel storyline of the library’s funding battle leads to a timely and authentic (if frustrating) conclusion. The main characters read white.

Genuine and grounded; full of warmth and pragmatic realism despite difficult and uncertain circumstances.