Having grown up the snarky brunette in a house full of chipper redheads, she’s quick to search for traces of herself among these not-quite-strangers. Maya, her loudmouthed younger bio sister, who has a lot to say about their newfound family ties. After putting her own baby up for adoption, she goes looking for her biological family, including. Okay, now about the actual book! And if you have any other “unicorn” YA titles, please do leave them in the comments! You can find the fabulous Robin Benway on Twitter at From the Tree by Robin Benwayīeing the middle child has its ups and downs.īut for Grace, an only child who was adopted at birth, discovering that she is a middle child is a different ride altogether. I have my librarian friend Laura Gardner to thank for making me grab this off my shelf (I had pre-ordered it after seeing it was a NBA-longlist title) and actually reading it last month – word of mouth is so important! And to be honest, even in my book reviewing world, this wasn’t one that I saw popping up everywhere pre-publication, so I think word just needs to get out.
It just came out in October and hasn’t had time to gain circulation numbers, so I can’t share proof of massive teen appeal, but I’m crossing my fingers that it will come through for me. Why all that preface to this review? Well, because I want you to know that I think I finally found the unicorn of YA books! The one that adults AND teens can absolutely fall in love with! The fact that it just won the National Book Award for Young People’s Literature is amazing because there definitely also tends to be a disparity in award winning titles being books I LOVE and books I appreciate.
Because that matters, right? Those adult-loved titles that we all buy and then watch languish on shelves make me want to cry! In those reviews I always try to include whether I think books have immediate kid appeal or whether it will require extensive book talking and just the right kid to fall in love with it. However, I do take it upon myself to read and review a massive volume of children’s literature through Goodreads, Instagram, and as a reviewer for School Library Journal and Kid Lit Exchange. I’m a 37-year-old school librarian – I am in NO WAY considered a young adult, right? So then, what makes this genre one in which I consider myself a qualified reviewer? I always find it fascinating that adults are the ones deciding which kidlit is quality or not, and in the library I see the disparity of kid-approved and adult-approved titles showcased every single day at the circulation desk.
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