2019 The Washington Post Best Childrenâs Book of the Year (Erin Entrada Kelly Pick)
A 2020 ALA Notable Childrenâs Book
âThe novelâs all-too-familiar scenario offers a springboard for discussion among middle schoolersâŠEasily grasped scenarios and short chapters help make this timely #MeToo story accessible to a wide audience.â âPublishers Weekly (starred review)
âRealistic and heartbreaking.â âBCCB
Barbara Dee explores the subject of #MeToo for the middle grade audience in this heart-wrenchingâand ultimately upliftingânovel about experiencing harassment and unwanted attention from classmates.
For seventh-grader Mila, it starts with some boys giving her an unwanted hug on the school blacktop. A few days later, at recess, one of the boys (and fellow trumpet player) Callum tells Mila itâs his birthday, and asks her for a âbirthday hug.â Heâs just being friendly, isnât he? And how can she say no? But Callumâs hug lasts a few seconds too long, and feelsâŠweird. According to her friend, Zara, Mila is being immature and overreacting. Doesnât she know what flirting looks like?
But the boys donât leave Mila alone. On the bus. In the halls. During band practiceâthe one place Mila could always escape.
It doesnât feel like flirtingâso what is it? Thanks to a chance meeting, Mila begins to find solace in a new place: karate class. Slowly, with the help of a fellow classmate, Mila learns how to stand her ground and how to respect othersâand herself.
From the author of Everything I Know About You, Halfway Normal, and Star-Crossed comes this timely story of a middle school girl standing up and finding her voice.