How to Build a Heart

"He doesn't understand. Well-to-do, white, educated, well-meaning Mr. Lyle…who has never had to remove items from his grocery cart because he doesn't have enough money, has never been stopped by some random kid who fingers the zipper on his jacket and says hey-that's-my-old-one-Mom-dropped-off-at-goodwill, has never watched his mother give him and his brother everything in the pot and say she's not hungry tonight because she had a big lunch…He doesn't understand."
Izzy, narrator of Maria Padian's How to Build a Heart, has not had it easy since her Marine father was killed in Iraq. Her mother, struggling to raise her and her little brother, Jack, as a single parent, has had to move her family just about every year. They've become cut off from extended family on both sides. Currently they're residing in a run down trailer park. Izzy is a scholarship kid at a pricey private school.
"I'm not supposed to be driving around with Roz. I'm not supposed to be hanging out alone with Roz. There are actually a whole bunch of Mama-imposed Roz Rules, and while this scenario has never been specially forbidden, cruising the back roads where Clayton's millionaires live is probably a violation."
Most likely. Roz is Izzy's trailer park neighbor and best friend. They're basically stalking and spying on "hot Sam", a rich boy Roz has an impossible crush on. It's an act that could get them arrested or even shot.
Well guess whose little sister is in Izzy's school and trying out for Veronican Convergence, a very popular and hard to get into a cappella group Izzy is a member of. When Izzy, sensing how socially awkward Aubrey (who makes the group) is, she befriends her. This friendship gets her into Aubrey's social world where big bro, sam, takes quite an interest in her…
…which means she suddenly has to be keeping a whole lot of secrets from Roz.
And then there's yet another complication. Izzy's family has been approved for a Habitat for Humanity house. She has no problem with the sweat equity part—being involved in the construction process. It's the publicity that torments her. They're going to share her story with donors and prospective donors. And Sam's parents are on the HFH board.
Izzy is a complex, evolving girl peers will really relate to centering an engaging and thought provoking narrative. It can help the many kids growing up in trailer parks feel seen (It's amazing how little fiction is set in this milieu) and more fininancially privileged peers gain insights.
On a purrrsonal note, the hardest thing about raising kids in a trailer park was having the prejudice directed toward them.
A great big shout goes out to Padian and other authors who use engaging narratives to combat trailer park trash prejudice.
Jules Hathaway