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mom. She knows the names of the constellations. And she knows that an octopus has three hearts and nine brains. Knowing things makes her feel safe, powerful, and in control should anything bad happen.
But there's one more thing Stevie doesn't know, one thing she wants to understand above everything else, and one thing she isn't quite ready to share
with her mom: the fizzy feeling she gets in her chest when she looks at her friend Chloe. What does it mean, and why isn't she ready to talk about it?
In this poetic exploration of identity and anxiety, Stevie must confront her fears to find inner freedom, all while discovering it is our connections with others that make us stronger.
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Creators
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Publisher
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Release date
February 16, 2021 -
Formats
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OverDrive Listen audiobook
- ISBN: 9781705010471
- File size: 57421 KB
- Duration: 01:59:37
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Languages
- English
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Reviews
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December 14, 2020
In spacious verse that mirrors a worried preteen’s breathlessness, Grehan (The Space Between) vibrantly captures the anxious inner landscape of 11-year-old Stevie, an Irish girl missing her estranged father and harboring a secret crush on her friend Chloe. “Knowing things/ Makes me safe,” she declares, a magical-thinking mantra that inspires her to read thick books on marine life. But just as often, she looks to her warm, wise mother for reassurance. Her mum’s words are usually a gift, but they scan as an empty box when she fails to see her daughter’s budding queerness (“She just gave me/ Wrapping paper/ With tape and ribbon and a bow/ But nothing/ Inside”). Though a comforting librarian offers hope to the girl, Grehan effectively depicts the loneliness of growing up in a world where heterocentrism is the default. Small in scope and big in heart and feeling, this novel is a tender portrait of gay early adolescence and a strong mother-daughter attachment. Ages 8–12. Agent: Karyn Fischer, Book Stop Literary.
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