Abby in between: Ready or not! by Megan E. Bryant

 Whether she's ready or not, Abby is facing a whole lot of change. Her cousin and best friend, Zoey, is moving across the US - and getting a phone. Abby's mom is going back to work, her dad has lost his job, and Abby has been signed up for Run Wild, an after school athletics program. On top of all these changes, and the challenges of starting fourth grade, she's starting to notice changes in her body as well.

With sympathy and a realistic appreciation of the challenges Abby is facing, Bryant tells an absorbing story of a young girl dealing with early puberty, family changes, and trying to connect after her close friend moves away. Abby loses her temper and gets in trouble with her parents, discovers new interests and friends, feels left behind and abandoned by her cousin, pursues her artistic interests, feels embarrassed about the changes in her body, and also faces a big issue in her town: homelessness.

Abby, depicted as Asian on the cover, and her family are far from perfect; she loses her temper, struggles to express her feelings, and is not always sympathetic to her parents' challenges or her little brother. Her parents get distracted by their jobs and their own problems, but make the best choices they can for their kids and Abby's mom acknowledges that she has gotten too caught up in her work and is not following through on her promise to communicate with Abby. Once they realize the problems she is having, they are both sympathetic to her reactions and fears about homelessness and puberty, and Abby in her turn admits that she does actually love Run Wild and enjoys the program.

This is not a "big" issue book; Abby's family is settled and supportive and although they face issues and problems everything is more or less resolved at the end of the book. Abby has been sheltered and privileged and her exposure to the issues of homelessness - and her embarrassment about the onset of puberty - are a shock that she struggles to deal with, but she has a support system that eventually comes through for her.

Verdict: Kids who like realistic fiction, family stories, and the everyday issues of life for an average, suburban, middle class child, will appreciate the skillfully drawn characters and their small joys and trials. For contemporary fans of Beverly Cleary and those not yet ready for the more intense stories of Barbara Dee, this is a fun story of friendship and family that will appeal to 3rd-5th graders.

ISBN: 9780593226520; Published February 2022 by Penguin Workshop; Borrowed from another library in my consortium