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SARDINES by Sashi Kaufman

SARDINES

by Sashi Kaufman

Pub Date: Oct. 18th, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-06-299561-2
Publisher: Quill Tree Books/HarperCollins

When adults don’t take charge, five middle schoolers resolve their own problems.

Lucas is miserable: Charlie, his older brother, died last year. Then his mom left the family, and he was left living with his unsupportive dad in a trailer. The Maine sixth grader bands together with new friends from his after-school group. Finn, a mysterious boy with formal manners and an adult vocabulary, assumes leadership, suggesting games like the titular Sardines (a hide-and-seek variation) and acorn cap gathering, which leads to wish making. Cat, a basketball player, wants to cut her hair, something her mother opposes. The group figures out that her mother can’t refuse if Cat gives her hair to an organization that assists cancer patients. Robbie, a likable boy, wants the school bully to stop picking on him, and the group figures out how to intervene. Anna wants her banker mother to pay attention to her. Finn needs a foster family so he can stay in the area when his group home closes. Lucas wants to find his mom—and discovering the truth shakes up and deepens his relationships. Lucas is a believable first-person narrator for this strong story of tween angst and friendship. The personal complexities of these five young people are explored in detail. Most characters are White; Anna is Black.

A thoughtful and compassionate story of friends and family.

(Fiction. 9-12)