(2) 4-6 At school Marty keeps a low profile to conceal the difficulties of his home life: a single mother who hoards and who lives with agoraphobia. Gracie comes from the prosperous side of the tracks but has challenges of her own: a busy, neglectful single dad and hearing loss. On the plus side, Marty has a warm, eccentric grandfather who gardens and encourages Marty's dream to one day visit the Eiffel Tower, and Gracie has a full complement of confidence. They also, increasingly in this story of a growing friendship, have each other. Just when readers think they know what familiar middle-grade-fictional territory they are in, Welsh writer Lewis throws a curveball toward magical realism and tall tale. The seed that kindly Grandad gave Marty for his birthday grows into a gigantic pumpkin, and Grandad decides to turn it into a boat and sail with Marty and Gracie to Paris to see the Eiffel Tower. The narrative tension switches from that of unreliable parents and school bullies to ­pumpkin-craft-threatening waves in the English Channel. With lots of help from a supportive community, the three succeed in their odyssey and the theme of following your dream (no matter how loopy) is made concrete. The two modes of storytelling don't entirely mesh, but the total effect is immensely likable.

Reviewer: Sarah Ellis | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2022

(3) YA Norah, who has debilitating OCD, anxiety, and agoraphobia, unexpectedly meets handsome new neighbor Luke. As a sweet romance (begun through passed notes) blossoms, Norah begins to re-evaluate her negative self-perception and sets previously unimaginable goals. Norah's sharp wit and honest pain make her a compelling narrator, and the portrayal of a love that matter-of-factly acknowledges and accommodates mental-health challenges is welcome.

Reviewer: Katie Bircher

(3) 4-6 Twelve-year-old Mysti's mom is agoraphobic and her dad is in a coma. Her best friend (and former fellow outcast) Anibal Gomez's "social experiment" to try to be cool means being nasty to Mysti in public. Luckily, two new misfit friends help Mysti get through it all. Resilient Mysti is sympathetic and, yes, courageous.

Reviewer: Elissa Gershowitz

(1) YA Twelve-year-old Frankie is the anxious youngest son in a quirky, loving, extended family, but its rich culture of jokes and rituals cannot quite compensate for Frankie's mother's (unnamed) agoraphobia. A new friend, the bold and outspoken Sydney, opens Frankie to the possibility of change--and the delicate hint of romance. This New Zealand import is witty, delightfully rambling, iconoclastic, and deeply moving.

Reviewer: Sarah Ellis | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2010

(3) 4-6 Matilda (a.k.a. Mattie or Miss M.), newly thirteen, navigates middle school with her best friends, Ariel and Nicki, by her side. After performing a "magic" ritual, though, things go wrong: Mattie's mom's agoraphobia worsens, Nicki's baby brother gets sick, and Ariel betrays Mattie (or does she?). The friends' troubles, some life-alteringly serious, others less so, are delicately and thoughtfully explored.

Reviewer: Elissa Gershowitz

(4) YA After relocating to Winnipeg with her newly separated mother, teenage Addie develops agoraphobia. Apartment-bound, she becomes involved in the complicated lives of her neighbors and, with the aid of a talking parrot and a ghostly visitor, unravels a mystery concerning the deceased owner of the building. The dramatic action is dulled by an overly detailed narrative that records every word of conversational minutiae.

Reviewer: Peter D. Sieruta