kirkusreviews.com
Cancer is so inconvenient.
It would be challenging to find a
more self-obsessed 12-year-old than Josephine, whose dithering over an upcoming
birthday party takes precedence over everything in her life—including her
mother’s upcoming mastectomy. Josephine’s twin, Chance, decides to support his
mother by dyeing his hair pink, setting off a new wave of panic for Josephine,
who doesn’t want anyone, even her best friend, Makayla, to know about her mom.
The flailing continues as Josephine debates going to spirit night, where Autumn
will ask boys to her birthday party (OMG), and rejects a support group for kids
whose parents have cancer (no way!). Josephine’s fear of attention is equally
linked, by her, to unwanted scrutiny after her parents’ divorce and an unhappy
sixth-grade romance (the shame of it all!). A crush on Chance’s friend Diego is
just too much for a girl with the resilience of a fruit fly. To helm her tepid
plot, Pyros has created a solipsistic main character who fails completely to
capture readers’ empathy. Set in New York’s Westchester County, the story will
leave them more annoyed with Josephine than they are with either cancer or
divorce. Makayla is black, and Diego is Latinx; other characters, including
Josephine and her family, are default white.
Only a girl with the depth of a bowl
of soup could blow off everyone who loves her while complaining that no one
gets her. (Fiction. 12-14)
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