Not If I Can Help It

May 27, 2019
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.

Starred review from July 1, 2019

Gr 3-6-Willa, who has sensory processing disorder, is best friends with Ruby, who struggles with anxiety. Things for the friends get rough at the end of fifth grade as they await their middle school placements and when Willa's dad and Ruby's mom announce that not only have they been dating for quite some time, but are getting engaged. On top of these massive changes, Joshua, Willa and her brother's sitter, is moving to Chicago with his boyfriend before the summer is over, and Willa's long-promised plans to adopt a dog are put on hold. All these changes make living in Willa's body harder than it already is, but luckily she has a strong support network. Both her father and mother are sensitive and supportive and work well as a divorced couple co-parenting their children. Willa has a wonderful occupational therapist, and she's paired with Sophie, a kindergartener who is also having a rough time. This novel manages to convey not only the experience of living with sensory processing disorder, but also the message that all families and people are unique and valued, not in spite of but because of their differences. Willa and her biological family are white, Ruby is first-generation American, and her mother is Indian. Mackler weaves friendship, family, disability, and race into a story which feels genuine, engaging, and never didactic. VERDICT Loving and hopeful, this is a recommended first purchase.-Taylor Worley, Springfield Public Library, OR

Copyright 2019 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from May 1, 2019
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)

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July 1, 2019
Grades 4-6 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.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)