Family Game Night and Other Catastrophes

Lambert’s gutsy and affecting first novel tackles a topic not frequently discussed in middle grade fiction: living with a parent who’s a hoarder. At 12, Annabelle copes with her mother’s obsession with her “collections”—old newspapers, milk jugs, canned vegetables—that are stacked throughout the house. Annabelle largely shoulders the burden alone: her father leaves on a business trip, her teenage brother routinely escapes to friends’ houses, and her younger sister’s nightmares about death-by-hoarding are making her physically ill. Intensifying Annabelle’s isolation is her “Five-Mile-Radius Rule,” which she uses to keep friends at a distance. Her caustic, self-protecting humor will endear her to readers: after her grandmother arrives to spearhead a de-cluttering effort, Annabelle observes, “Rearranging the mess does not a cleanup make.” She also adds humor to a strained family game night, narrating the doomed evening as an Elizabethan tragedy. A believably hopeful ending reinforces the story’s call to face problems rather than hide or run from them, and to ask for help from others—especially family. Ages 8–12. [em]Agent: Linda Camacho, Prospect Agency. (Feb.) [/em]