Publication July 11, 2023 by Quill Tree
E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus
Maudie has a stressful life living with her mother, Grace (who is a social media influencer) and her new husband, Ron. While they no longer struggle with housing and basic needs the way they did when Maudie was young, Ron doesn't understand Maudie's reactions to being overstimulated, and ignores the fact that she is autistic and functions well with some accomodations. Her mother takes Ron's side, and doesn't advocate for Maudie at school, where the therapist also seems oddly disconnected from strategies that might help Maudie. She's glad to spend the summer with her father at his cabin in Molinas. Pedro is a carpenter who struggles a bit, but does beautiful work. He's just finished a large order of custom bar stools, but a large scale wild fire causes the two to evacuate, and they fear that everything has been lost. Maudie's mother thinks that Maudie can't possibly deal with all of this trauma and wants her to come home, but Maudie would rather be with her father in a trailer near the beach than have to deal with Ron's anger. Pedro's childhood friend, Naldo, runs a campground, and allows the two to stay there while Pedro looks for work. It's not far from Conwy Beach, where her father grew up with his m other, Carmen, and where he met Maudie's mother, who got pregnant with Maudie when the two were still in high school. While living in a trailer is a little odd, there are a lot of things to like; Begonia, Naldo's daughter, Etta, who surfs on the beach, soft clothes, a more relaxed atmosphere, and NO Ron. Maudie even meets Paddi, who has ADHD, and her mother, Dr. Shakti, who runs a local school for students with brain differences. Maudie asks Etta, who gained some acclaim as a surfer years ago, to help her learn to surf, and hopes to enter the Conwy Beach competition and to try to win the prize money. She tries to keep this from her father, who does make some progress on finding work, which is especially important since the cabin in Molinas is gone. Just as things seem to be going right, Grace and Ron appear and want to take Maudie home right away. She melts down, which they have no patience for, and they take her to their hotel, hoping to catch their flight back to Texas in the morning. Maudie runs away, and with Etta's help, takes place in the competition. There will be fallout, but will Maudie finally be able to get the help she needs?
Strengths: Like Charlie in Pla's 2017 The Someday Birds, Maudie is a character who faces challenges because people do not understand the way her brain works; the difference that several years makes is that Maudie is given a diagnosis. Her father understands, even if her mother doesn't, and there was an interesting exchange where her father, who must be about 30, mentions that when he was in high school people were just starting to understand brain differences more, which is fairly accurate. My school has had an autism spectrum unit since about 2006. The real draw for young readers is the excitement of living in a trailer on the beach, even if this happened because of a wild fire, and the freedom of being able to surf and hang out. I loved Paddi and Dr. Shakti's school, and their involvement in the ending of the book will make readers sigh with happiness. The mother and Ron's meanness is, oddly, just the sort of sadness that my readers do like, and it's more realistic to have Maudie dealing with a stepfather. This was an interesting tale, and Maudie's autism was just one facet of her personality and of the story.
Weaknesses: It was fairly clear what Maudie's secret was, but this was not openly stated for a while. There are some portions of this that are written almost in a verse format, where the lines are shorter and the thoughts scattered, but I think that's more to mirror Maudie's internal struggle.
What I really think: This is a good choice for readers who want to read about characters who are able to face their challenges Mendez's Aniana del Mar Jumps In or Baldwin's No Matter the Distance and is one to add to the growing list of surfing books like Guidroz's Samira Surfs, Farid's The Wave, Colbert's The Only Black Girls in Town, and Mosier's Summer and July.
Strengths: Like Charlie in Pla's 2017 The Someday Birds, Maudie is a character who faces challenges because people do not understand the way her brain works; the difference that several years makes is that Maudie is given a diagnosis. Her father understands, even if her mother doesn't, and there was an interesting exchange where her father, who must be about 30, mentions that when he was in high school people were just starting to understand brain differences more, which is fairly accurate. My school has had an autism spectrum unit since about 2006. The real draw for young readers is the excitement of living in a trailer on the beach, even if this happened because of a wild fire, and the freedom of being able to surf and hang out. I loved Paddi and Dr. Shakti's school, and their involvement in the ending of the book will make readers sigh with happiness. The mother and Ron's meanness is, oddly, just the sort of sadness that my readers do like, and it's more realistic to have Maudie dealing with a stepfather. This was an interesting tale, and Maudie's autism was just one facet of her personality and of the story.
Weaknesses: It was fairly clear what Maudie's secret was, but this was not openly stated for a while. There are some portions of this that are written almost in a verse format, where the lines are shorter and the thoughts scattered, but I think that's more to mirror Maudie's internal struggle.
What I really think: This is a good choice for readers who want to read about characters who are able to face their challenges Mendez's Aniana del Mar Jumps In or Baldwin's No Matter the Distance and is one to add to the growing list of surfing books like Guidroz's Samira Surfs, Farid's The Wave, Colbert's The Only Black Girls in Town, and Mosier's Summer and July.
Both of these books sound like winners for MG audiences. Thanks for featuring them.
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