All the Things You Are

Gr 6—8—Carly Wheeler goes to a private school; has a best friend, Annie; and a mom who is a stylist for the cool Lovelock Falls soap opera. Her life is breezy and fun until the FBI arrests her mother for embezzlement. After that, the 12-year-old struggles with her feelings about her mom and what she did, and her yearlong prison sentence. Annie no longer talks to her, and Carly and her stepfather have to move into an apartment. The quick-paced book, which resembles Terri Fields's My Father's Son (Roaring Brook, 2008), is written in an easy style and features interesting relationships. It is accurate about the process of arrest and about prison and doesn't skimp on many of the resulting issues that come up with friends, family, and neighbors. The conclusion is realistic yet positive. An above-average addition.—Amy Cheney, Alameda County Library, Oakland, CA