Age: 4th-6th grade
Tough Issue: Sibling of cancer patient

First line: “When someone tells you your little brother might die, you’re quick to agree to anything.”

Thyme is uprooted from her childhood home to travel across the country to a small and unfamiliar New York apartment with a cranky downstairs neighbor, a new school, and city gloom. She has every right to feel alone, unhappy, and bitter. But Thyme must push these feelings down because her family has moved to find a final treatment for her brother with neuroblastoma cancer. But ignoring her feelings may lead to more problems.

An authentic and complex family dynamic, the Owens’ must push aside personal desires in order to rally behind the youngest in their family. Even though the main character isn’t the one experiencing the trauma of cancer, Conklin manages to write her perspective without making her selfish and unlikable.