Recently divorced parents behaving badly, having to travel between two different homes, starting seventh grade alone because your former bestie has traded you for a cooler chum--there's a lot for younger readers to relate to in Cassidy Wasserman's On Guard.
Grace's parents have divorced over the summer. The split is anything but amicable. Grace lives with her father with whom she's comfortable. But she has to spend a lot of nights with her mother who essentially ignores her. And mommy dearest is setting a room up for Grace in her condo so she can spend whole weeks there.
Meanwhile school is torture. Before their split Grace and Ava had signed up for all the same classes. Now Grace has to watch Ava be all chummy with her replacement, Lana, all day. And she doesn't have anyone else. Her acquaintances are all Ava's friends.
Having nobody to sit with in the cafeteria, Grace takes her lunch to the gym. She's in for a big surprise. The school's Fencing Club practices there. It looks like fun. And they're in need of new members.
With an engaging plot, lively illustrations, and relatable characters, On Guard is a good read, especially for kids facing similar challenges.
On a purrrsonal note, yesterday started out less than optimal but turned out memorable in the best possible way. Tobago woke me up at 2:15 when it was all black outside. Just before 7:00 my ride canceled because of an emergency. Under ordinary circumstances I might very well have decided not to go to campus. But it was the day of the student organizational fair--my best chance to recruit student organizations for operation Valentine. So I trudged my way through knee high ❄️ on the uncleared woods path and tried my best to lose feeling in my fingers waiting for the bus. But it was abundantly worthwhile. I got five pages of organizations. Blew way past my goal of thirty. And people were so thrilled and touched--I could see the enthusiasm on their faces. By mid afternoon when the fair ended I was floating on air. If I play my cards right this could become a UMaine tradition.
A great big shout out goes out to all the wonderful UMaine organizations who have signed on.
Sent from my U.S.Cellular© Smartphone
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