"The book we all need at the time we all need it.ā āKatherine Applegate, Newbery Awardāwinning author of The One and Only Ivan
In this middle grade novel from #1 New York Times bestselling author Gayle Forman, a boy who has been assigned to spend his summer volunteering at a senior living facility learns unexpected lessons that change the trajectory of his life.
To say Alex has had it rough is an understatement. His fatherās gone, his mother is struggling with mental health issues, and heās now living with an aunt and uncle who are less than excited to have him. Almost everyone treats him as though he doesnāt matter at all, like heās nothing.
So when a kid at school actually tells him heās nothing, Alex snaps, and gets violent. Fortunately, his social worker pulls some strings and gets him a job at a nursing home for the summer rather than being sent to juvie. There, he meets Josey, the 107-year-old Holocaust survivor who stopped bothering to talk years ago, and Maya-Jade, the granddaughter of one of the residents with an overblown sense of importance.
Unlike Alex, Maya-Jade believes that people care about what she thinks, and that she can make a difference. And when Alex and Josey form an unlikely bond, with Josey confiding in him, Alex starts to believe he can make a differenceāa good differenceāin the world. If he can truly feel he matters, Alex may be able to finally rise to the occasion of his own life.