Grade Level: Middle School
Pages: 224
Awards: Newbery Honor (2004)
Summary: A touching tale about a young girl named Martha experiencing the ups and downs of young love while wrestling with the loss of a classmate. Through her careful analysis Martha comes to the conclusion that she needs to engage with the world around her differently than she currently does. A classmate dies suddenly and Martha comes to find out that Olive really wanted to be her friend and thought she would be nice. Martha visits her grandmother on Cape Cod an in that time searches to make sense of why she is feeling such loss over a girl she hardly knew. She works through her thoughts by writing and hopes to become a writer one day. In the course of her vacation she falls under the spell of a neighbor boy who is obsessed with his video camera and wins a bet by getting Martha to kiss him on tape. Jimmy Manning the magnetic oldest brother steals Martha's heart but she learns the hard lesson again of how easily it is to miss what is right in front of your eyes. Tate, Jimmy's younger brother, is sweet on Martha but she can't get past the excitement surrounding Jimmy.
Personal Response: Henkes is an incredible writer and I love the way his words wrap around me like a comfortable blanket. I know he has given tremendous thought to his characters and they come alive in the book. I personally thought Martha was a little young to have such strong feelings about Jimmy. I wanted him to develop Godbee, the grandmother, more. I was distracted by Martha's relationship with Jimmy. I could recommend this book to my students but I can't see using it as part of a study because of the strong love themes in it.
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