About This Book
Reach for this book when your child is facing a season of sudden, heavy transitions, such as the death of a family member or the painful physical distance of a best friend moving away. Margaret is an eleven-year-old girl whose world in Brooklyn is upended when her father dies and her lifelong best friend, Maizon, leaves for a private boarding school. Through Margaret's journey, Jacqueline Woodson explores how a young girl finds her own voice and identity when the pillars of her life are removed. It is a quiet, poetic, and deeply realistic look at grief and self-reliance within a supportive Black community. Parents will appreciate the book's emotional maturity and its focus on how writing and friendship can help heal a broken heart without offering easy, superficial answers. It is ideal for middle-grade readers (ages 8 to 12) who are ready for a serious but hopeful exploration of what it means to grow up.
