Read this when
It's Not the End of the World
She tried everything to put her family back together. 📓💔
Who it's for
Karen's secret hope that she can reunite her parents is one of the most common and painful parts of a family split, and Blume lets readers feel it without judging it.
Feelings it meets
What it is
Twelve-year-old Karen Newman keeps a diary rating each day as her parents' marriage falls apart. She schemes to get them back together, while her older brother Jeff withdraws and eventually runs away. Through her friend Val, whose parents are also divorced, and the shock of seeing how her parents act when Jeff goes missing, Karen slowly accepts that the divorce is real.
Where to find it
In print (Atheneum/Simon & Schuster in the US; Pan Macmillan in the UK), ebook and audiobook; widely held in libraries.
Before you start
Heads up: Parents' bitter divorce; a teen runs away.
Age: Middle grade (about ages 9–12)
You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth.Kahlil Gibran, The Prophet, “On Children”
