The Museum of Us

Gr 9 Up—Sadie seems to have it all: loving parents, a supportive boyfriend, and a best friend. But she's only going through the motions. She's rarely present; instead she spends increasing periods of time in her hidden world of daydreams with her love and hero, George, who doesn't actually exist. After an accident, her adventures with George are threatened, and Sadie must make hard choices about how and with whom she wants to live her life while confronting trauma and memories from her past. The author deftly blends genres as readers delve in and out of Sadie's fanciful adventures with George. Redd's writing and character development is particularly strong for a debut author as she tackles a wide range of heavy topics, including mental health, ongoing trauma, and sexuality. While Sadie is always at the forefront, teens are often taken directly into Sadie's secret world, where the supporting characters are each richly developed and integral to the story.