Kate McGovern

Maple reminded me of a lot of kids I've seen over the years and I now have an eight year old granddaughter who struggles with reading, making this book a lot more important to me. Over the years, I've known a goodly number of older adults who became extremely skilled at fooling employers, friends, officials and even spouses into reading things for them. Eventually, like Maple, they ran into a situation where they had no way to get out of a bind. This is a story of hope and relevance for tweens struggling with reading or similar issues. It would be a perfect book for teachers and volunteers to read aloud, so those who are in a similar situation could hear the message.… (meer)

Maple gets to the end of 5th grade before her big secret is revealed – she can’t read. Her teacher recommends she repeat 5th grade. Middle school is hard enough but imagine being held back. Her former best friends abandon her when they move on to 6th grade. Good from the point of view of the Indian-Jewish culture, and the problems with friends growing and middle-school relationships are tough as always, but I found the premise weak -- I think it more likely that remedial reading lessons would be offered than repetition of a grade.… (meer)