If I Forget, You Remember

Elyse Donaldson, the plucky narrator of this touching book, plans to write her first novel during her eventful 12th summer. She knows how to write it (with different colored crayons for each chapter), but she's not sure what she wants to say. Foremost on her mind is her grandmother, whose Alzheimer's disease has rapidly progressed. When Elyse's mother decides that Granny should come live with them, she eagerly forfeits her bedroom and looks forward to chats with her favorite confidante. But once Granny is under the same roof, it seems that she has moved farther away instead of nearer. Closely attuned to her audience, Williams (Kelly and Me; The True Colors of Caitlynne Jackson) shows how Elyse's devotion to her grandmother is mixed with embarrassment and sorrow. The timely central issue is perceptively balanced with more universal, less weighty concerns: Elyse's jealousy of her older sister, ""Miss Perfect""; her run-ins with neighborhood bullies; her crush on a fellow writer (Bruce A., who is pretty special despite having ""pizza breath""); and her repugnance for her mother's new boyfriend, ""Dr. Dancing Dentist"" Michael Lauret. In place of pat solutions, the author offers small but honest consolation: after highlighting Elyse's successive anger, false hope and acceptance, she ends with Elyse's realization that she can salvage and pass on memories her grandmother has lost--a credible and uplifting conclusion that may help readers as much as the protagonist. Ages 8-12. (Apr.)