Those Kids from Fawn Creek

An outsider inspires 12 kids from a sleepy Louisiana town to see their inner strengths and share their best with each other in Erin Entrada Kelly's heartfelt and inspirational Those Kids from Fawn Creek.

Orchid Mason floats into humid and changeless Fawn Creek like a mysterious breeze, immediately changing the dynamic in the 12-person class led by Mr. Agosto ("who was born in Venezuela and was the only non-white face in almost every room"). Her worldliness is intriguing to the titular classmates whose families have lived in "Yawn Creek" for generations. Orchid quickly befriends longtime pals Greyson and Dorothy but drifts easily among the small town's 10 other seventh-graders without concern for existing hierarchies or social dynamics. "Those kids from Fawn Creek" may share the collective identity of a community, but Orchid's influence highlights their distinctive and evolving personalities in a way that surprises both the children and their lifelong companions. Snippy and self-assured Janie cannot cotton to the newcomer, though, and plots with an even crueler friend from the next town to expose Orchid's secrets.

Newbery Award-winner Kelly delivers another poignant and pitch-perfect middle-grade novel and lays bare quiet truths and universal childhood experiences with tremendous emotional resonance. Kelly (Hello, Universe; Maybe Maybe Marisol Rainey) reprises some familiar roles but her fully realized characters read as fresh and consummately sympathetic. A third-person narration with a familiar tone uses shifts in voice to convey subtleties of the children's personalities, while the book's demarcations of time--week by week until a climactic incident, then day by day--maintain the energetic pace. This powerful and thought-provoking story champions acceptance and serves as a bittersweet reminder to see the beauty in oneself as well as others. --Kit Ballenger, youth librarian, Help Your Shelf

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