As a digital subscriber, you’ll receive unlimited access to Horn Book web exclusives and extensive archives, as well as access to our highly searchable Guide/Reviews Database.
To access other site content, visit The Horn Book homepage.
To continue you need an active subscription to hbook.com.
Subscribe now to gain immediate access to everything hbook.com has to offer, as well as our highly searchable Guide/Reviews Database, which contains tens of thousands of short, critical reviews of books published in the United States for young people.
Thank you for registering. To have the latest stories delivered to your inbox, select as many free newsletters as you like below.
No thanks. Return to article
(2)
4-6
After "a bunch of water ruin[s] her life," all that our twelve-year-old protagonist wants to do is get back to normal. But what does normal look like for "Temple Baxter, flood victim"? It doesn't look like living in temporary quarters for weeks, switching schools, and constantly babysitting her three-year-old sister while her parents work and deal with the extensive repairs on their home. When her former private school friends ghost her, she's further unmoored. A natural organizer, Temple lands on the coping strategy of planning a fundraiser. With the help of neighborhood frenemy Jesse and new friend Asha, whose reframing of "flood victim" as "aquatic adventurer" helps Temple find her footing, she recruits local media, some big-name acts, and (just in time) a venue. With a plot that leans on the "plucky kids save the day with a big show" trope, this could read like a heartwarming feature story on the local news. But Faris elevates it with a keen sensitivity to Temple's emotional development as the tween comes to a maturing sense of her place in her family and community. Her desperate insistence that her parents level with her will strike chords of recognition in readers who are also teetering on the brink of agency. Sincere and heartfelt.
Reviewer: Vicky Smith
| Horn Book Magazine Issue:
March, 2024