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| Image: HarperCollins Publishers |
Middle Grade Monday features Dear Sweet Pea by Julie Murphy. Happy book birthday tomorrow to Dear Sweet Pea, Murphy's middle grade debut. Older readers might be familiar with Murphy's YA fare, Dumplin' and Puddin'.
Patricia "Sweet Pea" DiMarco's parents are getting a divorce. They want to keep things civilized and easy for Sweet Pea, so her father buys a nearly identical house two doors down the block. It's a little weird spending half the week in her dad's new house. She has belongings in both places, only her cat, Cheese remains at mom's house. Each time she changes houses she passes Miss Flora Mae's house. Miss Flora Mae is usually in her sun room working on her advice column, "Miss Flora Mae I?" Sweet Pea is fascinated by her. She has even written to her asking for advice and wonders why Miss Flora Mae did not write back. At school, she's stuck sitting near her ex-best friend, Kiera, who disses her at every opportunity. Luckily, her new best friend, Oscar is there to prop her up.
When Miss Flora Mae has to go away for a few weeks, she asks Sweet Pea to tend to her plants and forward her mail. She's very particular about how she wants Sweet Pea to perform these duties. One day, Sweet Pea spies a letter with familiar handwriting on it and decides to open it. Once she reads it, she writes her advice and mails it to Miss Flora Mae's editor. Seeing her words published gives Sweet Pea such a thrill that she can't resist answering a few more letters. What can go wrong?
Whelp, I devoured this in one sitting. Murphy makes a splash with her middle grade debut here. It's wonderful! Great voice, terrific characters, funny and relatable. I would love to reread this with my ears. Sweet Pea is matter-of-fact about being a bit overweight. Her parents do not make an issue of it. They are also attentive and involved in her life. She's a thoughtful seventh grader who is distracted by most things most seventh graders are distracted by.
Readers who want a gentle, humorous story about navigating family changes, friendship changes and school will love Sweet Pea. Highly recommended!
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