Counting to perfect

Review by Booklist Review

*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.--Jennifer Barnes Copyright 2018 Booklist

From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.

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Review by School Library Journal Review

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. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

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Review by Horn Book Review

In this well-paced story, sixth grader Cassie feels "invisible" after her family's attention turns to her teenage sister, Julia, and her baby. No one cares about Cassie's grades or that her friendships are changing; no one comes to her swim meets. Frustrated, she heads off on a road trip with Julia and baby Addie, which gives sympathetic protagonist Cassie the courage to assert herself. (c) Copyright 2019. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

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Review by Kirkus Book Review

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 roadand 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) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

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I woke to a weight on my chest, Addie's big blue eyes staring into mine. Her weight wasn't bad, sixteen pounds of snuggle baby. But it was bright in my room, so I shut my eyes and groaned about being woken up.   "Morning, Cassie!"   I peeked at Julia, hovering over us.   Never leave Addie on the bed! Mom must have said it a hundred times.   Not that either of us would. Julia always rolled her eyes about that. She rolled her eyes at a lot of what Mom said.   Julia was very careful. Way more careful than you would have thought from how much Mom reminded her of things. I guess that was Mom's job, to worry about everything.   Addie could sit up on her own, so Julia was letting her, but her hands were ready if Addie fell.   She didn't. She looked into my eyes and smiled, then let out a shriek. She noticed her bare toes in front of her and leaned forward to meet them, opening her mouth wide and schlurping on them.   "Aren't you excited?" Julia asked. "Soon you can just be with us, all day long."   My last day of school.   Julia'd hardly gone to school lately, but she'd gone enough, and graduated with her class two weeks ago.   Remembering her in her blue gown with red trim, her cap with the tassel, made a strange tickle in my throat.   I rolled over onto my stomach. Julia caught Addie in time, but she was still smiling.   They both were.   "Five more minutes," I said.           I went to the kitchen to get some orange juice.   My hand met Dad's, reaching for the fridge handle, too.   Probably getting milk for his coffee.   Dad paused, but not because of me.   He was looking at Julia's six A finals stuck all over the fridge.   First he looked proud, then he got tears in his eyes, then he looked proud again.   Nothing of mine showed on the fridge anymore. Not my portfolio poem from Creative Writing or my first-semester report card or my fifth-grade class photo from last year. Not for months.   Everything had been covered up by Julia.   "Morning, Dad," I said. "Um, I need the orange juice."   "Morning, Cassie," he said. Like he'd just noticed I was there. Even though our hands had been touching.   I grabbed the orange juice and poured a ridiculously large glass.   Let someone say something to me about it.   Not that anyone would.           I waited at the bus stop with my empty backpack. We hadn't had any homework, but they hand back so many things on the last day of school that I would need something to carry it all home in. The two other girls from my street, Carly and Elena, stood a little apart from me. They kept glancing toward my house.   I looked back. Julia was on our front lawn, holding Addie's hand high, making her wave goodbye to me.   I faced forward as the bus pulled up.   Carly and Elena were looking at Julia, though.   There were some good things about school ending.   I boarded the bus first and flung my bag into an empty seat. I sat down by a window that showed Julia and Addie, still watching and waving.   I folded my hands in my lap.   Julia's face fell, and she lowered Addie's hand.   The bus pulled away.           In the last five minutes of the day, our homeroom teacher handed out large, sealed yellow envelopes.   Everyone sat up straighter, ready to bolt.   Inside the packets: our report cards, summer assignments, and the names of our new homeroom teachers.   We were supposed to give them to our parents first--like that ever happened--and that's how they were usually labeled: To the parents of so-and-so, printed stickers with our student ID numbers and home addresses.   But my label was different--a name tag stuck over the official one. It said, TO CASSIE, in several colors of bright marker, and then underneath, very small, (and her parents), like parents were a sorry thing to have to mention and I was most important.   I looked around. Most of the labels were the official kind. There were a couple other colored ones, but not that many.   We were released; sixth grade was over. We poured into the halls. Kids tore open their envelopes. What were the teachers going to do about it, really? The kids cheered or groaned as they discovered their fates.   Seventh grade was done in blocks. Your English teacher was also your homeroom teacher, and then you moved through the day more or less with the people in your block, even if you split later for language or math. Finding out our lead teacher would tell us how much--or little--we'd see our friends next year.   I could have argued that I had a right to open my envelope, if a teacher caught me, because it was addressed to me, but I held it tight and beelined for the tree out front, where I had promised to meet Piper and Liana so we could open our envelopes together.   They were both there already.   "Ready?" Piper asked.   She and Liana ripped open their envelopes. Envelopes with plain printed labels.   They showed each other their homeroom teacher's name, and started jumping up and down and hugging. A match!   They stopped and looked at me.   "Aren't you going to open it?"   But I already knew.   My envelope didn't match on the outside.   I flipped it over and slid my finger along the seal, unclasped the metal prongs, slid out the papers.   Mr. Connelly.   I should have known. Julia had had him. She'd loved him. Like the label, everything he did was a bit more colorful than in the other rooms.   "That's okay," Piper said, after coming to check my paper. "Maybe we'll still have lunch together."   "Maybe."   Liana had moved on already, flipping through the summer assignment packet. "Book report on one of the books . . . letter introducing ourselves to our homeroom teacher . . ."   Again, my page was different. The book list was the same, but I wasn't asked to write a letter. Excerpted from Counting to Perfect by Suzanne LaFleur All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.

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