GIVE AND TAKE

Maggie, 12, protects herself from loss and change by hoarding; it’s not going well.

Maggie dates her anxiety from the day her nana, suffering from dementia, failed to recognize her. Now that her parents are fostering an infant destined for adoption, Maggie dreads the day they must give little Izzie up. Maggie saves both traditional mementos and detritus (rocks, candy wrappers, used milk cartons) as aides memoire, insurance against forgetting. She’s upset when her dad, who coaches the all-girl trapshooting team she loves, brings in a boy. Kind, intelligent Maggie, who attaches easily, finds change and letting go a struggle. Her school locker and hidden boxes hold an increasingly out-of-control collection. Her uncharacteristic fury when her boxes are discovered prompts her parents to seek professional help for her with a cognitive behavioral therapist. Supported by family and friends, Maggie charts her progress in letting go. Despite challenges, this white, middle-class, Jewish family is exemplary. Her busy working parents always have time for Maggie; her brothers—teenage Dillon and Charlie, 6—are remarkably understanding. The writing is lucid and intelligent, but theme, syntax, and vocabulary—though not page count—seem crafted for the younger edge of the target range, and Maggie herself reads younger than 12. Pediatric hoarding, like adoption and fostering, is portrayed sensitively, but this challenging condition (causes, comorbidities, and uncertain prognosis) may be harder to resolve than suggested.

A potentially useful resource for kids struggling with loss, change, and letting go.