Henry Holt and Company (Macmillan). Published May 19, 2026.
Recommended for ages 14-16.
Reviewed by: Alma Ramos-McDermott
Category: Young Adult
Rating: 3 stars
Twelve-year-old Sophia and her four-year-old brother Rafa lived in a car with their mother. Life had been normal with their half-Mexican/half-Arabic family until their father did something bad. As a result, Mama packed up the car with them and a few of their things and left. For weeks they drove aimlessly, parked in strange places at night, cleaned up wherever they could, and went hungry for long periods of time. Mama was desperate, selling her wedding ring and doing what she could to find food and get gas money. She finally found a job, but it was hard to save for an apartment, so they continued to live in the car. Sophia and Rafa spent a lot of time at the library waiting for her to come back from work or amusing themselves in the car with silly games. Things seemed to look up when they found an apartment, went back to school, and Sophia made friends. Unfortunately, their lives were soon uprooted once again.
I understood the author was writing about the effects of homelessness and poverty on families, a young girl’s changing feelings and emotions, and how memories helped get her through a trying time. What I didn’t understand was the confusing ending, the priest’s identity, why he called their mother a different name, and why she ran from him. Since he comes up quite a bit, I don’t understand why this wasn’t explained. I had given it 4 stars because of the important subject matter but took away 1 star because of it being incomplete in these areas.
Though I wasn’t a fan of its incompleteness, the subject is important, so I will recommend it to readers ages 14-16. (Though Sophia is only 12, mature subject matter on the birds and the bees makes it more suitable for an older audience.)
I received an advanced e-reading copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
Note: This review was originally published on You Decide: Should I read it or not?
Reproduced here as a courtesy to Alma Ramos-McDermott.
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