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by Benjamin Markovits, Kirby Heyborne (Read by), TBD (Read by)

Overview

Award-winning adult author Benjamin Markovits delivers a poignant coming-of-age middle grade story that will give comfort to anyone feeling like a small fish in a Texas-size sea. Perfect for fans of Kevin Henkes, Rebecca Stead, and Kate DiCamillo.

Twelve-year-old Ben is a shy, quiet kid. His life isn’t perfect, but he feels at home in his New York City apartment. Then his dad takes a job in London, and everything changes. His parents separate, and Ben’s mom moves them back to her hometown of Austin, Texas. Ben’s simple life is suddenly complicated. He misses his apartment, his best friend, Jake, and his dad.

Then he meets Mabley, who becomes a bright spot to Ben’s day. But when his mom starts working at his new school and making friends with his teacher, Ben finds himself at the center of all the problems the adults around him can’t resolve—and even some of his own. That includes joining the school’s basketball team, where Mabley’s best friend is the star player. After being pushed around, looking for his place, Ben will have to learn how to stand his ground.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781094113630
Publisher:	HarperCollins Publishers
Publication date:	02/04/2020
Product dimensions:	5.30(w) x 7.50(h) x 0.00(d)
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

About the Author

Benjamin Markovits is the author of You Don’t Have to Live Like This, forthcoming from Harper. He left an unpromising career as a professional basketball player to study Romanticism. Since then he has taught high-school English, worked at a left-wing cultural magazine, and published seven novels, including a trilogy on the life of Lord Byron.

Kirby Heyborne is a musician, actor, and professional narrator. Noted for his work in teen and juvenile audio, he has garnered over twenty Earphones Awards. His audiobook credits include Jesse Kellerman’s The Genius, Cory Doctorow’s Little Brother, and George R. R. Martin’s Selections from Dreamsongs.

Editorial Reviews

An honest portrayal of a family in transition.” — Kirkus Reviews

“Markovits nails the feelings of this awkward tween as he navigates his parents’ impending divorce while discovering where he belongs.” — Booklist

"Spot on and often quite funny observations of parental bumbling and middle-grade folkways. Readers will appreciate [Ben’s] growing realism about the complicated dynamics of families.” — Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books

"The author paints a realistic picture of a family in transition and their nuanced emotions as they figure out a new normal. A moving coming-of-age story that will bring hope to those going through times of transition." — School Library Journal

From the Publisher

"Spot on and often quite funny observations of parental bumbling and middle-grade folkways. Readers will appreciate [Ben’s] growing realism about the complicated dynamics of families.

Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books

Markovits nails the feelings of this awkward tween as he navigates his parents’ impending divorce while discovering where he belongs.

Booklist

"Spot on and often quite funny observations of parental bumbling and middle-grade folkways. Readers will appreciate [Ben’s] growing realism about the complicated dynamics of families.

Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

Markovits nails the feelings of this awkward tween as he navigates his parents’ impending divorce while discovering where he belongs.

Booklist

01/01/2020

Gr 4–6—Twelve-year-old Ben is feeling lost when his parents announce they are separating. His workaholic dad is moving to London, and his mom decides to move with Ben from New York City to her hometown of Austin, TX, to stay with his grandmother. Starting over in a new place isn't easy: shy, quiet Ben struggles to make friends at his new school. To make things worse, his mom starts working at his school as a part-time teacher. One bright spot for Ben is shooting hoops during lunch at the abandoned basketball court, where he befriends the school grounds keeper Sam. To get him more involved at school, Ben's mom encourages him to be the manager for the basketball team, which is coached by one of his teachers who is also dating his mom. While he works hard at the job, he finds himself being bullied by some of the kids on the team. Meanwhile Ben is struggling to decide whether he should stay in Texas or move to London where his dad has told him there is a special school for American kids. While the pace of the story is slow, the author paints a realistic picture of a family in transition and their nuanced emotions as they figure out a new normal. VERDICT A moving coming-of-age story that will bring hope to those going through times of transition.—Sarah Polace, Cuyahoga Public Library System, OH

School Library Journal

At a calm, deliberate pace that matches the slow unfolding of this story, narrator Kirby Heyborne depicts the nuanced emotions of 12-year-old Ben as his parents upend his life. When his father moves to London for a new job, Ben’s mother decides not to accompany him, instead moving Ben from their apartment in New York City to Texas to be closer to her own mother. Ben’s neutral accent contrasts with the subtle regional accents of the Texans. Heyborne’s gentle voice reflects Ben’s introspectiveness and sadness, especially as he becomes the target of bullies at school. Heyborne also convincingly conveys Ben’s confusion and anger with his parents as he deals with their separation and his transition to a new life. S.C. © AudioFile 2020, Portland, Maine

MAY 2020 - AudioFile

At a calm, deliberate pace that matches the slow unfolding of this story, narrator Kirby Heyborne depicts the nuanced emotions of 12-year-old Ben as his parents upend his life. When his father moves to London for a new job, Ben’s mother decides not to accompany him, instead moving Ben from their apartment in New York City to Texas to be closer to her own mother. Ben’s neutral accent contrasts with the subtle regional accents of the Texans. Heyborne’s gentle voice reflects Ben’s introspectiveness and sadness, especially as he becomes the target of bullies at school. Heyborne also convincingly conveys Ben’s confusion and anger with his parents as he deals with their separation and his transition to a new life. S.C. © AudioFile 2020, Portland, Maine

MAY 2020 - AudioFile

2019-10-09
When his parents split up, Ben enters the choppy waters of his new life in Austin.

Ben's workaholic dad heads to London while Ben moves with his mother from New York to her hometown. Introspective Ben retreats into himself, feeling pulled between his parents and indecisive about what he truly wants—to stay with his mother or to move in with his dad. Adult novelist Markovits' (A Weekend in New York, 2018, etc.) debut book for children starts slowly as readers live through Ben's uneventful summer days and he begins school. Though both his parents encourage Ben to express his opinions and speak up for himself, Ben finds himself lonely and the target of bullies. Readers may find themselves unengaged as the author methodically introduces story elements, but things pick up at the halfway point. Ben is coerced into managing the popular basketball team—coached by a teacher his mom is dating—while on the side, groundskeeper Sam teaches Ben basketball basics on an abandoned outdoor court. When Ben gets the chance to participate in a playoff game, his newly acquired skills are, refreshingly, not a magic fix to his problems. The story moves slowly, and not all the pieces introduced get a proper payoff, but Ben's realistically rocky emotional journey ends on a satisfying note. The cast of characters is a primarily white one.

Not quite a slam dunk but an honest portrayal of a family in transition. (Fiction. 8-12)

Kirkus Reviews