Change is hard for most people, but it's especially tough for Willa.She and her best friend, Ruby, are very different. Willa is 11, white, book-loving, tall, and vegetarian, and she unashamedly loves LEGOs and dogs. Ruby is (a smidge) younger, short, sporty, Indian-American, lactose intolerant, and anxious. Willa also has sensory processing disorder, but she staunchly prefers to keep that side of herself "private," just among family. They are in the same fifth-grade class, and they initially connected over a love of gummy bears. They also both happen to have divorced parents. Now Willa's dad and Ruby's mom tell the girls they've been dating for some time, and they're "sure [they're] in love." Despite what everyone else says, Willa knows this is "terrible, terrible news!" She already has to cope with the upcoming move to middle school, and now this. Willa's family is comfortably off, and she has solid support in her corner from professionals, family, and friends. Mackler describes the way Willa experiences the world so that readers intimately perceive how it feels in her body. Refreshingly, the adult characters treat the children as mature, capable people, including them in decisions. There are also ringing truths to life as a kid of divorced parents that lay no blame and connect emotionally. The story focuses on working through tough changes, even when it is hard.A quality, truthful portrayal of the general challenges that come with different experiences of the world, whether personal or familial. (Fiction. 8-11)

Willa, who lives with her little brother and their divorced father during the school year, has barely adjusted to the news that Dad has been dating her best friend Ruby's mother, when he announces that they'll be getting married soon. For a kid who doesn't like change, that's a lot to take in, and it doesn't help that Ruby is so positive about their parents' relationship. Can their close friendship survive step-sisterhood? Will Ruby think her friend is weird when she finds out about Willa's sensory processing issues? With help from her wide support network, Willa copes with her troubles while mentoring a lonely, withdrawn kindergartner. The contrast between her fretful reactions to change and Ruby's enthusiastic ones helps define the two characters. Always in touch with her feelings, Willa makes a sympathetic, highly articulate narrator. In the appended acknowledgments section, Mackler mentions her first-hand knowledge of sensory processing disorder and the help that is available. While Willa's sensory issues aren't at the forefront of the narrative, readers will gain awareness as they read her story.

On the cusp of middle school, eleven-year-old Willa learns that her divorced father has been dating her best friend Ruby's mother--and that Ruby and her mother plan to move into their Manhattan apartment. Through Willa's accessible first-person narration, readers witness her sensory processing issues becoming exacerbated by the mounting changes. Willa's humor, honest reactions, and strong sense of identity offer readers going through their own big changes some solace and understanding.

Change is hard for most people, but it's especially tough for Willa.She and her best friend, Ruby, are very different. Willa is 11, white, book-loving, tall, and vegetarian, and she unashamedly loves LEGOs and dogs. Ruby is (a smidge) younger, short, sporty, Indian-American, lactose intolerant, and anxious. Willa also has sensory processing disorder, but she staunchly prefers to keep that side of herself "private," just among family. They are in the same fifth-grade class, and they initially connected over a love of gummy bears. They also both happen to have divorced parents. Now Willa's dad and Ruby's mom tell the girls they've been dating for some time, and they're "sure [they're] in love." Despite what everyone else says, Willa knows this is "terrible, terrible news!" She already has to cope with the upcoming move to middle school, and now this. Willa's family is comfortably off, and she has solid support in her corner from professionals, family, and friends. Mackler describes the way Willa experiences the world so that readers intimately perceive how it feels in her body. Refreshingly, the adult characters treat the children as mature, capable people, including them in decisions. There are also ringing truths to life as a kid of divorced parents that lay no blame and connect emotionally. The story focuses on working through tough changes, even when it is hard.A quality, truthful portrayal of the general challenges that come with different experiences of the world, whether personal or familial. (Fiction. 8-11)

Mackler (The Universe Is Expanding and So Am I) delivers an up-close look at Sensory Processing Disorder through this bighearted story about a girl-s tumultuous fifth-grade year. Willa Grover, who is white, is best friends with Indian American Ruby Chaudhary; they-re in the same class on Manhattan-s Upper West Side. They both like gummy bears and cold treats, but Ruby is easygoing while worrier Willa dislikes change. Willa doesn-t want most people, even Ruby, to know that she sees an occupational therapist twice a week. Her daily life with her father, little brother, and babysitter has settled into a comfortable routine after her parents- divorce, even though she often feels -Invisible Weird--privately out of step with those around her. So when her father and Ruby-s mother announce they-re dating, Willa feels that her carefully constructed world is being unfairly squeezed. Willa-s supportive mom and stepdad live a couple hours away, and a classmate seems determined to make Willa even more uncomfortable. Drawing from her own family-s experience, Mackler creates authentic characters and honest situations, pulling readers into a warm, involving story about a girl navigating adolescence while coping with personal challenges and inevitable changes. Ages 8-12. Agent: Jodi Reamer, Writers House. (July)