Available:*
Library | Call Number | Status |
|---|---|---|
Searching... Stayton Public Library | JF STEAD | Searching... Unknown |
Searching... Amity Public Library | JUV FIC STEAD | Searching... Unknown |
Searching... Dallas Public Library | + Stead, R. List | Searching... Unknown |
Searching... Independence Public Library | J FICTION - STEAD | Searching... Unknown |
Searching... Jefferson Public Library | J STEAD, R. | Searching... Unknown |
Searching... Lyons Public Library | J STEAD | Searching... Unknown |
Searching... McMinnville Public Library | STEAD, R. | Searching... Unknown |
Searching... McMinnville Public Library | STEAD, R. | Searching... Unknown |
Searching... McMinnville Public Library | STEAD, R. | Searching... Unknown |
Searching... McMinnville Public Library | STEAD, R. | Searching... Unknown |
Searching... Mount Angel Public Library | + STEAD, R. List | Searching... Unknown |
Searching... Newberg Public Library | J FICTION STEAD | Searching... Unknown |
Searching... Newberg Public Library | J FICTION STEAD | Searching... Unknown |
Searching... Salem Main Library | J Stead, R. | Searching... Unknown |
Searching... Salem Main Library | J Stead, R. | Searching... Unknown |
Searching... Salem Main Library | J Stead, R. | Searching... Unknown |
Searching... Silver Falls Library | JF STEAD | Searching... Unknown |
Searching... West Salem Branch Library | J Stead, R. | Searching... Unknown |
Searching... Woodburn Public Library | Stead | Searching... Unknown |
Searching... Woodburn Public Library | Stead | Searching... Unknown |
Bound With These Titles
On Order
Summary
Summary
EIGHT STARRED REVIEWS! The reassuring book kids and families need right now.
"An absolute original . . . a story that kids will love." --R. J. Palacio, bestselling author of Wonder
At a time when everything is changing for Bea and her family, the important things will always stay the same. A soon-to-be classic by the Newbery Award-winning author of When You Reach Me.
After her parents' divorce, Bea's life became different in many ways. But she can always look back at the list she keeps in her green notebook to remember the things that will stay the same. The first and most important: Mom and Dad will always love Bea, and each other.
When Dad tells Bea that he and his boyfriend, Jesse, are getting married, Bea is thrilled. Bea loves Jesse, and when he and Dad get married, she'll finally (finally!) have what she's always wanted--a sister. Even though she's never met Jesse's daughter, Sonia, Bea is sure that they'll be "just like sisters anywhere."
As the wedding day approaches, Bea will learn that making a new family brings questions, surprises, and joy, and readers will discover why the New York Times called Rebecca Stead a "writer of great feeling."
"An undeniably beautiful book." -- The New York Times
"No author writing today observes young lives with more clarity, tenderness, and grace." --Newbery Medalist Katherine Applegate, author of The One and Only Ivan
"Stead truly understands the inner life of kids." --Newbery Medalist Erin Entrada Kelly, author of Hello, Universe and You Go First
Author Notes
Rebecca Stead won the Newbery Medal for her second novel When You Reach Me in 2010. Her first novel is First Light. Rebecca's third novel, Liar & Spy, won the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize in 2013. She is the first US author to win the Prize.
All of Rebecca's novels have received critical and popular acclaim with When You Reach Me, Liar & Spy, and Goodbye Stranger all appearing on the New York Times bestseller list. Ms. Stead's books are published under the Random House Children's book imprint Wendy Lamb.
Before committing to a career as a writer, Rebecca was a lawyer working as a public defender.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (5)
School Library Journal Review
Gr 5--8--When 12-year-old Bea's parents first divorced two years ago, they gave her a green notebook in which they had started a list of Things That Will Not Change, with numbers one and two being "Mom loves you more than anything, always," and "Dad loves you more than anything, always." Bea takes comfort in adding to her list; it helps her understand number six: "We are still a family, but in a different way." When Bea's dad and his partner, Jesse, first announce they're getting married, Bea is thrilled--she loves Jesse, and she will finally have a real sister once they're married. Jesse's daughter, Sonia, lives across the country in California, and Bea is anxious that Sonia isn't as thrilled as she is about the prospect of new family members. Bea sees a supportive therapist, Miriam, who assists her with her anxiety, her guilt over how she reacts to stressful situations, and other obstacles she encounters daily. When Sonia comes to New York for a visit, Bea assumes that Sonia doesn't want her to be part of their new blended family. Stead masterfully captures the trials and tribulations both the girls are navigating. As the wedding planning ramps up, so do Bea's anxiety and eczema, and the potential disaster Bea may have caused by secretly inviting Jesse's estranged brother, Mission, to the wedding. Readers' heartstrings will be tugged as the wedding isn't all sunshine and happiness, and family dynamics are shown to be both powerful but sometimes flawed. VERDICT The angst and worries that middle grade readers experience are brought to life through Bea's authentic voice in this must-read title.--Michele Shaw, Quail Run Elementary School, San Ramon, CA
Publisher's Weekly Review
When eight-year-old Bea's father comes out as gay, her divorcing parents give her a notebook containing "The List of Things That Will Not Change," an accounting that helps the girl navigate her shifting family landscape. Two years later, Bea is thrilled when her restaurateur dad and his adored boyfriend, Jesse, announce their engagement; the only child has always wanted a sister, and she can't wait to welcome Jesse's daughter, Sonia, into the family. But Sonia, who lives in California, has complicated feelings about the situation that surface when she arrives in New York City. It's one of many interpersonal challenges that deeply sensitive Bea--an eczema sufferer who wears her heart on her sleeve--faces that year, contributing to growing feelings of guilt and worry. Newbery Medalist Stead's knack for authentic tween voices ("I didn't think I could live through that moment of everyone looking at me") shines through in a first-person narration that explores Bea's rich inner life as she learns, with help, to manage her anxiety. Bea's interactions with her loving community convey particularly well-drawn dynamics that support themes of building resilience and savoring joy; together, these insightful moments layer into an affecting story of significant middle grade change. Ages 8--12. Agent: Faye Bender, the Book Group. (Apr.)
Horn Book Review
From the outside it appears that Bea lives a charmed life. She has loving (albeit divorced) parents; an involved extended family; a kindly, funny teacher; a loyal best friend; a dog and a cat; and a wise therapist. Even situations involving life changes, such as her gay fathers upcoming wedding and the prospect of a new stepsister, seem to be curiously unfraught. But with Steads fiction (When You Reach Me, rev. 7/09; Goodbye Stranger, rev. 7/15), appearances are always deceiving. It turns out that Beas upbeat spin on life is papering over some major anxieties and some serious problems with anger management. Bea is keeping two secrets. She lets us in on one of them, a piece of well-meaning interference in the wedding plans that turns out to be a disaster. The other secret, hidden in plain sight but only revealed at the climax, involves deliberately causing harm to another person. The strength of this novel lies in Steads authentic, respectful, low-key approach to the emotional life of a ten-year-old as recalled from the perspective of her slightly older self (Bea is twelve when she tells the story: a story about me, but a different one, a person who doesnt exist anymore). Difficulties with spelling, the pleasures of gummy bears, the pain of eczema, the ability to sense adult tensionwe are fully present with Bea, in the rich, crisply rendered details and in her distinctive voice. Sarah Ellis March/April 2020 p.91(c) Copyright 2020. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
Bea, 12, reflects on life since her parents' divorce when she was 8.Bea, who is white, tells her story in a direct, conversational tone, with age-appropriate insights. Mostly she describes interactions with family members near and far, including her parents and her father's partner, the aunt, uncle, and cousins with whom she and her parents spend an annual two-week summer vacation, and the new sister by marriage whose visit she eagerly anticipates. Glimpses of her school experiences focus on frustrations or antagonisms, like her struggle with spelling or the times that she allows her anger to spill out and cause (minor) injury to others. Stead packs in plenty of issuesdivorce, therapy, a gay parent, homophobia, and a painful case of eczemabut her prose never descends to moralizing or moaning. Instead, Bea's authentic, accessible voice and smooth interweaving of anecdotes keep the tone relatively light and make for a sometimes-amusing, sometimes-poignant exploration of realistic contemporary experiences and concerns. The acknowledgements that not every problem can be solved and that doing a bad thing does not necessarily make someone a bad person will reassure readers that they too can find balance and comfort in complicated circumstances. Supported by multidimensional, sympathetic family and friends, Bea ultimately finds that her list of certainties provides the necessary foundation for personal growthand change.Uplifting without sentimentality, timely not trendy, and utterly engaging. (Fiction. 8-12) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
When Bea's father decides to get married for the second time, this time to another man, she is overjoyed, not only because she loves Jesse, her father's partner, but also because he has a daughter her age, and the thing Bea wants most in the world is a sister. This tale of 10-year-old Bea is narrated by her 12-year-old self, who often flashes back to earlier episodes of her life, brilliantly depicting the nonlinear storytelling mechanics of a tween mind. Indeed, Stead's greatest strength may be her understanding of the middle-grade psyche. Her work shows great respect for the complexity of children's feelings, and this remarkable book is, more than anything, about feelings. As Bea prepares for her father's wedding, attempts to forge a connection with her future sister, and worries over her single mother, she meets intermittently with a therapist, who guides Bea in self-reflective exercises describing what emotions feel like (a narrative tool used frequently, to great effect) and helps her unearth her own terrible secret, which lands in a hard-hitting twist ending. So much is tackled in this slim volume: a courteous divorce, Bea's incidental case of eczema, friendship, mental health, sisterhood, and a beautiful model of gay marriage in the face of adversity. An emotional character journey from a middle-grade master. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: It's been almost five years since Newbery medalist Stead's last solo novel, and adoration of her work is at the top of the list of things that will not change.--Ronny Khuri Copyright 2020 Booklist