Starred review from June 1, 2021
Gr 3-7-In the aftermath of a school shooting that killed an elementary student, TJ, a kindergarten survivor with post-traumatic stress disorder, seeks out companionship and finds support in an unlikely place. TJ's 12-year-old cousin Leah comes to stay with his family for the summer and discovers firsthand how a community heals. TJ has gone mute and sneaks out of the house to meet a friend named Michelle at a laundromat, where they sort through lost items. When Leah discovers TJ's whereabouts, she joins in on the imaginary world by creating a puppet show called the Land of Lost Things, which she films and posts on YouTube. In the process, Leah unknowingly helps herself heal from her parents' divorce years ago. Puller illuminates ways children can teach adults about using art to express their emotions and share their stories. This novel shows young readers and educators alike that while traditional therapy is essential, especially in a crisis, therapy can also develop organically as people share similar experiences. VERDICT A must-read for starting conversations and opening up dialogue about trauma of any kind. An important title for social workers, parents, and educators about the critical role art and imagination can play in healing and bringing people together.-Laura Dooley-Taylor, Lake Zurich M.S. North, IL
Copyright 2021 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
July 1, 2021
On her annual visit to her aunt and uncle's house in Chicago, 12-year-old Leah Abramowitz is distressed by her 7-year-old cousin TJ's silence. The premise is thoughtful and poignant: A child survives a school shooting in which one of his classmates is killed, is left severely traumatized, and his cousin manages not only to help him find his voice, but to grow herself. Unfortunately, the overall impression readers are left with is that TJ's trauma and the initial violence that caused it--an incident that is addressed with activism at the end that feels insufficiently developed--are ultimately vehicles to present Leah's transformation. She repeatedly expresses her longing to be special and is acutely aware of those she believes possess this quality. First-person narrator Leah also likes answers and certainty, and through the process of helping TJ, she learns to get in touch with her feelings. Her phone is her go-to for all information--her aunt jokes that she's addicted to it--and her self-absorption contributes to the story's feeling of tone deafness. Readers will have figured out TJ's trauma miles before she does. Leah's narrative voice occasionally sounds too grown-up ("It was, in fact, one of those rare summer days in Chicago. When it was neither too hot nor too sticky"), and the staccato writing style grows tiresome. Leah and her family are Jewish and implied White; one major secondary character presents as Black. Tackles a challenging subject with insufficient nuance. (Fiction. 9-12)
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