About This Book
Reach for this book when your child is processing a significant trauma, living with high levels of anxiety, or needs to see their own hyper-vigilance reflected and validated. It is a quiet, deeply interior story about nine-year-old Jamie, who has just fled an abusive home with his mother and baby sister. While the inciting incident of domestic violence is intense, the book focuses on the aftermath: the cold winter nights in a borrowed trailer, the fear of being found, and the slow, fragile process of reclaiming a sense of safety. This is a short but emotionally heavy Newbery Honor book that captures the sensory experience of trauma through a child's eyes. It is most appropriate for mature middle-grade readers (ages 10 to 14) who can handle realistic depictions of family crisis. Parents might choose this title to help a child articulate feelings of 'waiting for the other shoe to drop' or to open a gentle door for discussing resilience and the protective power of a mother's love.
