MMGM- Strays Like Us

It's Marvelous Middle Grade Monday at Always in the Middle and #IMWAYR day at Teach Mentor Texts and Unleashing Readers. It's also Nonfiction Monday.

Galante, Cecilia. Strays Like Us
June 26th 2018 by Scholastic Press
E ARC from Edelweiss Plus

When Fred's (nee Winfred) mother is arrested at her job in a pharmacy for stealing medication, Fred finds herself an hour from her home in Philadelphia. She is in Lancaster, at the house of a no-nonsense woman named Margery. Margery seems nice, and she's a good cook, and Fred knows that this is very temporary. The neighbor, Mr. Carder, has a dog that is severely neglected, and when Fred feeds him, Mr. Carder is very upset. Margery has told Fred not to bother the dog, but is understanding. When Fred goes to her new school, she has a run in with mean girl Michelle in art class, tackling the girl when she bullies another girl called Lardvark and calls Fred "trash". Once again, Margery isn't happy, and tells Fred that she will spend two days sanding rust off of metal to get some control on her anger. The girl from school, whose name is Ardelia, stops by, and the two try to feed the dog next door. While they are doing this, they hear calls for help, and it turns out that Mr. Carder has fallen. They call 911, and Mr. Carder is taken to the hospital with a broken neck. Margery grudgingly agrees to take in the dog, Toby, and they clean him up and feed him, settling him down for the night in Margery's shed, which serves as her art studio. Fred is really happy, and when Delia stops by the next day, the girls practice riding Delia's unicycle, and Fred finds out some secrets about her life. When Toby trashes the studio, trying to get into a bag of food, the girls have to tell Margery yet another thing that they have done wrong. Always making the punishment fit the crime, Margery tells Fred that she will have to finish the sculpture that was damaged. While Fred loves her comfortable room, Margery's good cooking, and having a friend and a dog, she is very worried about her mother, and dealing with a lot of anger. She and Delia fall out, and Fred has to attend a custody hearing for her mother. If she can tell the judge that her mother doesn't have any problems, she can go back to live with her,  but will that be helpful in the long run?
Strengths: Fred's mother's problems with prescription drugs is a very timely topic, and Fred's foster care placement is a story we need to have represented more. Margery is a great foster parent-- not perfect, but firm and understanding. The friendship with Delia is a good one, and Toby's plight is a good parallel to Fred's own. This is the sort of sad book students like, especially since it involves a child their age making very poor decisions but being supported by caring adults. I enjoyed this a lot.
Weaknesses: There were a few levels of sad that could have been skipped- Delia had a brother who drowned, and her parents didn't really speak to Delia for a year. Also, dog lovers need to be warned that Toby gets hit by a car but lives. The coincidence of who hits him is a bit much. Will students mind? No. I also have Richard Peck's 1998 novel by the same name stuck in my mind now.
What I really think: Definitely purchasing, and the cover is great. This will sell itself.