Counting to Perfect

June 1, 2018

Gr 5-7-Twelve-year-old Cassie Applegate's world revolved around her family and her swim team, until her sister Julia gave birth to a little girl, Addie, in the middle of her senior year of high school. Now her parents are so occupied with Julia and the baby, they scarcely seem to notice Cassie and rarely come to her swim meets. She also misses the closeness she shared with Julia before Addie was born. When Julia tells Cassie she and Addie are leaving, and invites her to come along, Cassie reluctantly agrees, assuming it will be a short road trip. But once on the road, Julia seems to have no particular destination in mind, and no intention of returning home. Cassie finds herself torn between the adventure and camaraderie of traveling with her big sister, and her love for her parents and friends back home. Lyrically written with compelling characters, this heartfelt novel explores the complexity of sibling relationships. Cassie's account of her road trip with Julia is interspersed with memories of their life together before Addie was born, and the confusing, frightening months after Julia announced she was pregnant. Although the parents' acceptance of two teenaged girls taking an unplanned trip with an infant seems to come a bit too easily, the characters' emotions are believable and beautifully described, and the relationship between the sisters is touching. The author also wonderfully captures Cassie's love of swimming. VERDICT This warm and expressive contemporary novel will appeal to middle grade fans of realistic fiction.-Ashley Larsen, Pacifica Libraries, CA

Copyright 2018 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

August 1, 2018
A road trip with her older sister and her sister's baby help a seventh-grader understand her place in her complicated, well-meaning family.When Cassie's sister, Julia, became pregnant at only 17, her parents rallied to support her and enable her to graduate high school. Now that goal has been achieved, but the girls' parents are still in full support-Julia mode while seemingly unconscious of the toll their dictates have taken on Cassie. She has had to miss important swim meets to attend family prenatal classes, and some of her friends are no longer allowed at her house. Cassie loves her niece but is rattled by the changes in her relationship with her sister. Meanwhile Julia's friends and boyfriend are heading to college, while she'll be commuting part time. Fed up, Julia grabs the baby and hits the road--and at the last minute Cassie comes along. As they hop from place to place, always finding somewhere for Cassie to swim, they gradually begin to communicate better. Julia gains confidence as a mother, and Cassie sees in Julia's love for Addie a reflection of the love Julia and her parents have always held for Cassie. Told from Cassie's first-person point of view, it's a nice reflection on the messiness of even strong relationships. All of the characters seem to be white. A quiet story that will resonate with quiet readers. (Fiction. 8-14)

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Starred review from September 1, 2018
Grades 4-7 *Starred Review* Nothing's been the same in the Applegate house since Cassie's big sister, Julia, told her parents she was pregnant. Cassie never imagined becoming an aunt at 12, and as much as she loves her niece, Addie, she can't ignore all the ways her life has changed. But when Julia invites her to hit the road, just the two of them and Addie, Cassie goes along with the plan. Though they say they're just gone for the day, it quickly becomes clear to Cassie that Julia has other plans. But they can't stay gone for too long . . . right? LaFleur's latest is a quietly profound exploration of how a massive change in a family feels for the person most removed from it. She exquisitely captures all of the small ways this cleaving in her family has affected Cassie?from her parents doing whatever possible to help Julia graduate high school to all the new ways she feels so apart from her sister's life-changing experience. Anyone who's ever had a cataclysmic event rock their family will find a mirror in this moving story. Though some readers may have trouble suspending disbelief when the parents don't go after the girls, despite being able to track them through their phones, many others will be too emotionally invested in Cassie and Julia's plight to quibble. For anyone who's ever felt invisible.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)