The Ashwater Experiment

Reach for this book when your child feels like a perennial outsider or expresses a fear of making friends because they expect to be leaving soon. It is especially poignant for children in mobile families, such as those in military or itinerant professions, who have learned to protect their hearts by staying detached. The story follows twelve-year-old Hillary, who has attended seventeen schools and views life as a series of temporary experiments rather than real experiences. Hillary's parents decide to house-sit in one place for a full year, forcing her to confront the messy, beautiful reality of long-term friendship. The book explores themes of identity, the courage required to be vulnerable, and the discovery that people are often more complex than our first impressions suggest. It is a gentle, realistic middle-grade novel that helps children realize that even if a friendship might end, the connection was still worth making. It provides a comforting framework for discussing the anxiety of new beginnings and the value of 'staying put' emotionally.