Tiny Infinities

by J.H. Diehl

Overview

When Alice's dad moves out, leaving her with her troubled mother, she does the only thing that feels right: she retreats to her family's old Renaissance tent in the backyard, determined to live there until her dad comes home. In an attempt to keep at least one part of her summer from changing, Alice focuses on her quest to swim freestyle fast enough to get on her swim team's record board. But summers contain multitudes, and soon Alice meets an odd new friend, Harriet, whose obsession with the school's science fair is equal only to her conviction that Alice's best stroke is backstroke, not freestyle. Most unexpected of all is an unusual babysitting charge, Piper, who is mute—until Alice hears her speak. A funny and honest middle-grade novel, this sharply observed depiction of family, friendship, and Alice's determination to prove herself—as a babysitter, as a friend, as a daughter, as a person—rings loud and true.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781452163352
Publisher:	Chronicle Books
Publication date:	05/08/2018
Pages:	352
Sales rank:	714,524
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.20(h) x 1.10(d)
Age Range:	10 - 14 Years

About the Author

J. H. Diehl has an MFA from the University of Iowa Writers' Workshop; this is her first novel. She lives in Maryland.

Editorial Reviews

"A story that is as smoothly lyrical and full of ordinary wonder as it is realistic." --Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

"Wrenching at times, comforting at others. Tiny Infinities is both a pleasure and worth every second spent with it in your hands." - John Feinstein, New York Times bestseller and winner of the Edgar Award for Best Young Adult fiction

"Riveting and real, tender and thrilling. When I got to the end of this book I realized I was going to miss it like a friend." -Karen Romano Young, author of Hundred Percent and Doodlebug: A Novel in Doodles

"Lush, layered, and languidly paced . . . this is a keenly perceptive and nuanced story awaiting just the right reader." -Booklist

"Diehl has a lovely writing style and wastes no time getting readers on Alice's side." -Kirkus Reviews

"Alice is a strong, self-driven girl determined to excel. Diehl possesses real potential as a middle grade writer with descriptive imagery that can be quite beautiful." -School Library Journal

From the Publisher

01/01/2018
Gr 5–8—For 12-year-old Alice, swimming is her life, especially this summer since it's the only thing that hasn't changed. A serious car accident has left her mother homebound and their family scattered, living in four different places. In protest, Alice refuses to sleep in her home until the family is reunited, choosing instead to inhabit the backyard in the family's old tent. Late one evening she meets the new next-door neighbor, a young girl named Piper who does not speak. Soon Alice starts babysitting Piper and is surprised when she hears Piper speak—but no one believes her. With the help of a new friend, Harriet, and Piper's older half-brother, Owen, Alice sets out to prove that Piper isn't so silent after all. Alice is a strong, self-driven girl determined to excel in a sport underrepresented in children's fiction. The descriptions of swimming events are vivid and authentic, but, unfortunately, that does not extend to much of the dialogue, plot points, and characters. One-dimensional, absentee adults abound. Despite this, Diehl possesses real potential as a middle grade writer with descriptive imagery that can be quite beautiful at times. VERDICT An interesting, if uneven, story. A secondary purchase for most libraries.—Rebecca Gueorguiev, New York Public Library

School Library Journal

2018-03-18
The summer she turns 13, Alice struggles to hold on to the family life that has been slipping away since her mother's major car accident a year ago.At the request of her mother, who has been in bed and depressed since her accident, Alice's father is moving out, and her twin brothers are going to stay with their aunt. If she can't keep her family together, Alice hopes she can at least reach her swim team goals; she practices twice daily and has numerous competitions. The night Alice stays out late to avoid watching her father leave, she saves Piper, a young girl who just moved in next door, from being hit by a car. Alice soon realizes that something is wrong: Piper doesn't speak, doesn't seem to hear, and doesn't seem to express emotion as expected. Alice is hired as a mother's helper for the family, and one night she hears Piper utter a word. Telling Piper's parents about it upsets them, and Alice becomes determined to prove to everyone that she did not make this up. Diehl, a debut author, has a lovely writing style and wastes no time getting readers on Alice's side. While this is not a fast-paced novel and at times even feels meandering, its exploration of relationships—among family, friends both old and new, and crushes—and responsibility are worth diving into. While some minor characters have names of diverse origins, the main characters are not described in terms of ethnicity or race, implying a white default.A quiet story with a likable protagonist. (Fiction. 10-14)

Kirkus Reviews