Sardines

September 5, 2022
Lucas is grieving the death of his “all-star kid” older brother when he starts middle school, and he misses his mother, who left home with no explanation three weeks back. To make things worse, his distraught father insists that Lucas go to afterschool care instead of coming home to Oak Hill Trailer Park in the afternoons. But Teen Club, as it is called, turns out to be the best part of Lucas’s days after he bonds with his fellow attendees: Cat, a basketball player who yearns to cut her hair; amiable Robbie, who experiences bullying; Anna, one of the few brown-skinned students in their small Maine town, who longs for her mother’s attention; and formally spoken new kid Finn. During the program’s rec time, the group has adventures outside, playing games of Sardines, building a tree fort, and collecting acorn caps in jars—when each kid fills their jar, the group collaborates on granting their wish. Tracing a growing adolescent bond through an extended metaphor about finding community, Kaufman (The Other Way Around) writes fresh and relatable characters and a smoothly concocted plot that provides clever, collaborative answers to seemingly unsolvable conflicts. Ages 8–12. Agent: Lauren MacLeod, Strothman Agency.

September 1, 2022
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)

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