Sophie Washington: Mismatch

Blurb:

Game. Set. Match.

Sophie Washington is trying out for the tennis team, and she’s excited to get a chance to play with her good friends Chloe and Mariama. That is until wacky Coach Quackenbush matches her with school misfit, Mackenzie “Big Mac” Clark, and things quickly go downhill. Sophie has nothing in common with her partner, who does odd things like run off the court in the middle of practice, and she’s disappointed when Mackenzie shows no interest in the secret handshake she made up. After getting called out by the coach, being hit on the head with a tennis ball, and jokingly called the “most valuable player,” by mean older girls on the team, when she’s clearly not, Sophie’s ready to throw in the towel. Trying to fit in with the mean girls by making fun of Mackenzie behind her back makes things worse. Mackenzie starts skipping practice, and then gets sick at school, and Sophie realizes that there’s more to her doubles partner than meets the eye. What started out as a total mismatch could be the best partnership of all.

Excerpt:

To get us ready for our upcoming match against our rival school, St. Regis, Coach Quackenbush has us play practice matches. Valentina’s grandma has to work late and is picking her up at four-thirty this afternoon, and Toby and Nathan’s track practice was cancelled because their coach is out of town, so they come to watch us.

“Do good for me guys!” says Valentina from the nearby mini bleachers. “Let’s go! Vamanos!”

 “All right, we’ve gone over the rules of tennis earlier today, so you know how to keep score,” says Coach Quackenbush. He’s wearing a whistle around his neck and carries his usual clipboard. “I want you to play each other, and the team that wins two out of three games will be declared the winner. Since we only have three singles players, I’ll work with Kennedy while Lindsey and Jackie go against each other. All right. Let’s see how we do, team!”

“All right!” we all parrot.

“Good luck in your matches, guys,” Chloe says to the eighth-grade girls.

“We don’t need luck unlike you little sixth graders,” says Kennedy. “We have talent.”

She and the older girls flounce off to their courts.

“Whatever,” says Chloe with a roll of her eyes.

“They think they are ‘all that’ just because they were on the team last year,” says Mariama. “I’d love to beat them in a game.”

“Forget them,” I say and pick up a can of new tennis balls Coach Quackenbush left on the court for us. “Come on, let’s get going.”

 “Okay, let’s get started,” says Chloe. Her frilly red tennis skirt swings around her hips as she smacks the ball to us for the first serve. It bounces high in the air toward me.

“I got it!” I race forward.

“Mine!” Mackenzie comes over to my side of the court from the other direction. Surprised at her quick movement, I stumble.

Wham!

We run into each other. The ball bounces off my head, and I stagger to keep from falling.

My Review:

4.5 stars

This is the fourth book in this series that I’ve reviewed as this is one of my favorite series for middle grade readers because it tackles real-life issues in creative, realistic ways while teaching important life lessons.

This time around, the lessons are about taking the time to understand and accept others who are different than you as well as dealing with peer pressure. It also delves into health and wellness issues, which is all I’m going to say to avoid spoilers.

As someone who has gone through the struggle of trying to get a medical diagnosis while dealing with others who didn’t understand what I was going through, I related with Mackenzie 100%. It was refreshing to see how this was handled in a way that both makes sense for the target audience without hiding the struggles and not-so-fun parts.

The only odd part of this story to me was the hyper focus on sports. After reading three books in the series which focused more on academics, it was a little odd to see such a shift in the opposite direction with apparent balance of sports and academics. I also found some of the word choices a little odd. However, these were minor things I noticed in the story, which was overall a great teaching tale and another great addition to the Sophie Washington series.

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Author Bio and Links:

Tonya Duncan Ellis is the author of the Amazon bestselling, Readers' Favorite "Five Star" rated, Sophie Washington children's books series, geared toward readers ages 8 to 12, and is a member of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI). She has received awards for literary excellence, worked as a journalist and freelance magazine writer, and is a graduate of Centre College of Kentucky and Washington University in St. Louis.

The Sophie Washington book series recounts the adventures of a precocious African American preteen from Houston, TX and her diverse group of friends. Each funny and heartwarming story teaches lessons about friendship, responsibility, truthfulness and perseverance. Books in the series include Queen of the Bee, The Snitch, Things You Didn't Know About Sophie, The Gamer, Hurricane, Mission: Costa Rica, Secret Santa, Code One and Mismatch.

Tonya loves to travel and has visited 49 American states and three continents, but some of her best journeys have been between the pages of a novel. As a girl she could always be found with a book in her hand, and reading is still one of her favorite hobbies. When she's not reading or writing, the author likes to ride her bike, swim, and spend time with her husband and three children. She lives in Missouri City, TX.

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Mrs Murray's Hidden Treasure Review Tour

Blurb:

There is a hidden treasure in the grand old mansion on Piccadilly Street, in a place called London, but not the real London of English fame. There’s also a lot of mystery and a murder that’s been unsolved for decades. But it’s the treasure that captures Mary’s interest. Mary lives in this house along with her family, her Brownie friends and a ghost. When the ghost reveals her secret about the hidden treasure, there’s no stopping Mary, her Brownie friends, or her enemies from searching for this treasure. Why the intrigue? Apparently there’s a little bit of magic connected to this treasure. And so the adventure begins. Who will find the treasure first?

Excerpt:

Once the house settled down for the night, Mrs. Murray, the resident ghost, was out on her nocturnal prowl. Satisfied that the house was safe and secure for the night, after all the musical vibrations that shook the rafters earlier, she took her place at the end of Mary’s bed and waited patiently for the girl to stir from her sleep and take note of her presence.

“What?” Mary groaned, pulling her eyes open as she emerged from a deep sleep. “What now?”

“We need to talk.” The wispy figure of what was once a very distinguished looking lady, sat down at the end of Mary’s bed and looked the girl firmly in the eye.

“Now?” Mary groaned. “It’s the middle of the night. What time is it?”

“What difference does it make? Sit up and let’s talk.” The ghost was not going to take ‘no’ for an answer. And, it would appear, feigning sleep would not send her away either. So, Mary pushed herself into a sitting position and rubbed her eyes again, hoping to eradicate the sleep that threatened to make them close.

“Where are the others? Where’s Brunny?” she asked.

“Asleep in their little space. And it’s not a natural sleep either. They’re all in the deepest of sleeps, all except Elizabeth, who slipped out of the house a few hours ago, just after the lights went out and your family snuggled in for the night.” Mrs. Murray slid a little closer to Mary. “She’s still not right, that Elizabeth. She’s good and well shackled by that witch.”

My Review:
4.5 stars

Going in, I did not realize this was Book 2 in a series, but it works as a standalone, though I would recommend reading the series in order so as to fully enjoy it.

This was a cute, middle grade fantasy (and mystery). I loved the world this is set in, as it's detailed and fun to get lost in, full of magical creatures from dragons to witches and everything in between. In addition, the characters were fantastic, especially Mary. I also greatly enjoyed seeing the friendship between Rosie and Mary and how valuable it was to the story.

The book was fast-paced, with Mary going through a lot to solve the mystery and find the ring. The only downside to this was because there was a lot happening back-to-back, it came off a tad rushed at times, but overall, I greatly enjoyed this story, and recommend it to anyone looking for an engaging fantasy or middle grade story.

*I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.*

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Author Bio and Links:

An avid gardener, artist, musician and writer, Emily-Jane Hills Orford has fond memories and lots of stories that evolved from a childhood growing up in a haunted Victorian mansion. Told she had a ‘vivid imagination’, the author used this talent to create stories in her head to pass tedious hours while sick, waiting in a doctor’s office, listening to a teacher drone on about something she already knew, or enduring the long, stuffy family car rides. The author lived her stories in her head, allowing her imagination to lead her into a different world, one of her own making. As the author grew up, these stories, imaginings and fantasies took to the written form and, over the years, she developed a reputation for telling a good story. Emily-Jane can now boast that she is an award-winning author of several books, including Mrs. Murray’s Ghost (Telltale Publishing 2018), Mrs. Murray’s Hidden Treasure (Telltale Publishing 2019), Queen Mary’s Daughter (Clean Reads 2018), Gerlinda (CFA 2016) which received an Honorable Mention in the 2016 Readers’ Favorite Book Awards, To Be a Duke (CFA 2014) which was named Finalist and Silver Medalist in the 2015 Next Generation Indie Book Awards and received an Honorable Mention in the 2015 Readers’ Favorite Book Awards and several other books. A retired teacher of music and creative writing, she writes about the extra-ordinary in life and the fantasies of dreams combined with memories. For more information on the author, check out her website.

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Sophie Washington Code One Review Tour

Blurb:

Anything boys can do girls can do better

Xavier Academy is having a computer coding competition with a huge cash prize! Sixth grader Sophie Washington and her friend Chloe can’t wait to enter with their other classmates, Nathan and Toby. The only problem is that the boys don’t think the girls are smart enough for their team and have already asked two other kids to work with them. Determined to prove the boys wrong, Sophie and Chloe join forces with classmates Mariama, Valentina, and “brainiac,” Rani Patel, to form their own all-girl team called “Code One.” Computer coding isn’t easy, and the ladies get more than they bargain for when hilarious mishaps stand in their way. It’s girls versus boys in the computer coding competition as Sophie and her friends work day and night to prove that anything boys can do girls can do better!

Excerpt:

 “Hey, ladies,” Toby grins back and shows his dimple. I remember when his smile made my day go from gray to rainbow bright. I had a major crush on Toby when he came to Xavier and went through all kinds of changes to get his attention. I’m embarrassed thinking about how I acted like I love basketball, which I can’t stand, because he is a star player on our school’s team, and how I even swiped a cell phone from one of my little brother’s friends so I could call Toby. I found out he didn’t really care about any of that stuff and liked me for myself. We aren’t a couple or anything, but I’m glad we’re friends.

“Whatcha reading?” I point at pieces of paper on the table that the boys are staring at like they’re Willy Wonka’s golden tickets.  

 “An invitation for teams to sign up for the new computer coding club,” answers Nathan, pushing his dark-rimmed glasses up on his nose. “Xavier is having a coding competition to see who can make the best computer app.”

“What’s coding?” I ask.

“A special language that computer programmers use to tell the computer what to do,” Nathan explains. “like show a video, or start a game.”

“We’re thinking about making an app that’s similar to the video game, Fortify,” says Toby. “The grand prize is two hundred dollars, and it’s split between all the team members. I want some new basketball shoes, and my dad says I have to come up with half the money myself, so this will be a quick way to get it.”

“Count us in!” enthuses Chloe. “We could always use some extra cash for trips to the mall.”

“Yeah, that sounds like fun,” I add.

“Wait a minute, ladies,” says Nathan. “Coding isn’t as easy as turning a cartwheel. We really want to win.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” asks Chloe, putting her hands on her hips. “You don’t think you could win with us on the team?”

“I-I didn’t say that,” he stammers. “It’s just with your…umm…disability and all…and all the time you have to practice for cheerleading, I wonder if you could really help us.”

Now he’s done it. I can almost see the steam coming out of Chloe’s curls. My best friend has dyslexia, a condition that makes her see numbers and letters differently. Because of it, she takes longer to read and do math than other kids and is in some special classes. She gets very angry when people make fun of her about it, or act like she’s not smart.

“If you’re so worried about us being in cheer why would you pick Toby for the team?” Chloe counters. “He practices his basketball just as much as we practice for cheerleading, and we’re all at the same games.”

“Toby is a level one Fortify player,” Nathan says. “He knows everything about the game, so he can help us write a plan for how the app should work.”

“Oooo, I guess we should bow down to the expert,” says Chloe.

“My eight-year-old brother Cole plays Fortify,” I pipe in. “I’m sure it’s not too hard to figure out.”

“Yeah, you guys just don’t want us,” Chloe frowns.

“Nobody’s trying to keep you girls from being on the team.” Carlton holds his palms up to keep the peace. “It’s just that we’ve asked a couple other guys to be on our team already, so we don’t have room for anyone else.”    

 “Exactly. We’d love to have the extra ‘brain power,’ but our group is full,” Nathan agrees. “In fact, I wish I could make an app to clone myself. Then I’d have another person to do my school assignments while I’m working on this.”

“Why’d we want to have two of you?” says Chloe. “There are enough jerks running around this school. Come on, Sophie! Since their group is so ‘crowded,’ let’s find a table where there is enough space for us.”

She turns on her heels and moves toward another table, and I follow.

“Chloe, hold up! Don’t be like that!” Toby calls. She doesn’t look back. 

“Let her go, man,” says Nathan, “It’s not worth it.” They turn back to the flyers.   

“The nerve of those boys!” Chloe huffs as we sit down at a table in a corner of the room. “I can’t believe they think we’re not smart enough to help them win the competition.”

I shake my head and smooth my uniform skirt. I am especially surprised at Nathan, since I beat him in both the school and regional spelling bees last year. “They think we’re dumb just because we are cheerleaders and because we’re girls.”

“Well, we’ll show them!” Chloe yanks a coding club flyer off the cafeteria wall. “Let’s sign up for the competition and beat the pants off them!”

“Yeah, they’ll wish that they begged us to be on their team!” I agree.

We high five, and then start reviewing the contest rules as we eat our sandwiches. The coding club meeting is tomorrow afternoon in the school computer lab. I can’t wait to see Nathan’s and Toby’s faces when we show up with our own winning team.  

It’s game on!

My Review:

5 stars

Let me start off by saying that I’ve reviewed multiple books in this series, and it is one of my favorite series for middle grade readers because it tackles real-life issues in creative, realistic ways while teaching important life lessons. And ss someone who was told several times growing up that I couldn’t do something because I was a girl, I was glad to see that issues tackled in this latest Sophie Washington story.

On top of addressing teamwork and empowering girls to become more active in STEM, this book also dove into honoring and understanding multicultural differences and using those differences to improve a team. I also enjoyed the end result of the coding contest because I felt it really drove home the message that differences can be even more valuable than uniformity.

Finally, I love the relationship between Sophie and Cole. Seeing their relationship as siblings evolve as they grow up and learn has been an unexpected bonus in this series, and it definitely showed in Code One.

All in all, this was another great addition to the Sophie Washington series, and I can’t wait to see what’s next.

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Author Bio and Links:

Tonya Duncan Ellis is the author of the Amazon bestselling, Readers' Favorite "Five Star" rated, Sophie Washington children's books series, geared toward readers ages 8 to 12, and is a member of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI). She has received awards for literary excellence, worked as a journalist and freelance magazine writer, and is a graduate of Centre College of Kentucky and Washington University in St. Louis.

The Sophie Washington book series recounts the adventures of a precocious African American preteen from Houston, TX and her diverse group of friends. Each funny and heartwarming story teaches lessons about friendship, responsibility, truthfulness and perseverance. Books in the series include Queen of the Bee, The Snitch, Things You Didn't Know About Sophie, The Gamer, Hurricane, Mission: Costa Rica, and Secret Santa. Tonya loves to travel and has visited 49 American states and three continents, but some of her best journeys have been between the pages of a novel. As a girl she could always be found with a book in her hand, and reading is still one of her favorite hobbies. When she's not reading or writing, the author likes to ride her bike, swim, and spend time with her husband and three children. She lives in Missouri City, TX.

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Sophie Washington: Hurricane Review Tour

Blurb:

#Sophie Strong

A hurricane’s coming, and eleven-year-old Sophie Washington’s typical middle school life in the Houston, Texas suburbs is about to make a major change. One day she’s teasing her little brother, Cole, dodging classmate Nathan Jones’ wayward science lab frog and complaining about “braggamuffin” cheerleader Valentina Martinez, and the next, she and her family are fleeing for their lives to avoid dangerous flood waters. Finding a place to stay isn’t easy during the disaster, and the Washington’s get some surprise visitors when they finally do locate shelter. To add to the trouble, three members of the Washington family go missing during the storm, and new friends lose their home. In the middle of it all, Sophie learns to be grateful for what she has and that she is stronger than she ever imagined.

Excerpt:

Ever since her BFF Maria Garcia moved a couple of weeks ago, Valentina’s been pushing her way into our friend group.  Her constant adding of Spanish words to every conversation makes me gag. I’m so irritated thinking about Valentina that I don’t pay attention to where I’m going.

“Watch out!”  

Nathan Jones, a boy I’ve known since fifth grade, zooms around the corner with a mason jar in his hand and clear plastic science goggles on his face. Nathan is wearing a white lab coat, and hopping in front of him is a ginormous gray-green frog.

“Eeeeek!” I scream in shock, unable to move.

“Grab him, Sophie!  I need that frog to finish my science experiment!!” Nathan calls.

Water sloshes out of the jar as Nathan and the frog get closer. Then he steps in the puddle and starts sliding. He’s running so fast that he can’t slow down. 

“Oh no!” I cower to avoid him, but as he swerves, Nathan dumps the water from the jar on my head.  We ram into each other, ending up in a jumbled heap on the floor then the frog leaps over us, croaks and heads down the stairway.

Click!

“That was hilarious!” laughs Valentina snapping a picture on her cellphone. “I can’t wait to post this.”

“Don’t you dare!” I struggle to my feet, and try to snag her phone, but she shuffles away.

“Look everybody!” she shrieks, skipping over to the growing group of kids.

I quickly glance at Nathan. “Are you OK?”

“Yeah, just bummed that Exhibit A of my experiment got away,” he says standing and rubbing his head. Nathan is one of the smartest kids in the sixth grade, and a good friend. He had surgery on his leg last year when a bully pushed him down in the hallway, so he is always careful not to injure it again.

My Review:

3.5 stars

This is the second book I’ve read in this series, and I enjoyed it. We learned more about Sophie and her family and friends, which I liked since I got to know several characters better from the first book. This made it easier to relate to Sophie’s struggles as her experiences and reactions were realistic, particularly her relationship with her younger brother.

I also liked how the author wove life lessons into the story organically. While some of the character lessons came across as preachy, she didn’t downplay the severity of hurricanes and addressed the potential consequences in a way you don’t always see in children’s books. This strengthened the story and made it shine.

My only problem with this book is that aspects of it came across as annoying. I found Valentina particularly annoying as she was the one character that seemed…fake. And some of the relationship between Sophie and her brother seemed forced to show sibling rivalry at times, which was odd to me as I greatly enjoyed their relationship in the first book.

Overall though, I enjoyed my second trip with Sophie and would recommend this book to anyone looking for a clean, wholesome read for your middle grader.

*I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.*

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Author Bio and Links:

Tonya Duncan Ellis was born and raised in Louisville, KY. She loves reading so much that as a child she took books with her everywhere. She knew she wanted to become a writer after an article she wrote was published in her hometown newspaper when she was a teen. Since then, Tonya has worked as a journalist and freelance magazine writer. She's an Amazon bestselling and award-winning author of the Sophie Washington children's book series, geared towards readers ages 8 to 12. The books recount adventures of Houston, TX preteen Sophie Washington and her diverse group of friends. Each funny and heartwarming story teaches lessons about friendship, responsibility, truthfulness and perseverance. Books in the series include Queen of the Bee, The Snitch, Things You Didn't Know About Sophie, The Gamer, Hurricane and Mission Costa Rica (Due to be released June 2018). When she's not writing, Tonya enjoys reading, biking, swimming, travel and spending time with her husband and three children. She lives in Houston, TX.

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Sophie Washington: Queen of the Bee Review Tour

Blurb:

Sign up for the spelling bee? No way!

If there’s one thing 10-year-old Texan Sophie Washington is good at, it’s spelling. She’s earned straight 100s on all her spelling tests to prove it. Her parents want her to compete in the Xavier Academy spelling bee, but Sophie wishes they would buzz off.

Her life in the Houston suburbs is full of adventures, and she doesn’t want to slow down the action. Where else can you chase wild hogs out of your yard, ride a bucking sheep, or spy an eight-foot-long alligator during a bike ride through the neighborhood? Studying spelling words seems as fun as getting stung by a hornet, in comparison.

That’s until her irritating classmate, Nathan Jones, challenges her. There’s no way she can let Mr. Know-It-All win. Studying is hard when you have a pesky younger brother and a busy social calendar. Can Sophie ignore the distractions and become Queen of the Bee?

Excerpt:

 “Turn the television off, and you two go get the newspaper and pull the garbage can up to the garage,” says Mom, shaking her head and pouring more pancake batter into the skillet. “All this arguing is going to make me burn breakfast.” 

I clench my fists to keep from wringing Cole’s neck. “Did you tell Mom about the contest?” he loudly yells over blips and bleeps. He is playing a Video Rangers cartridge on his Nintendo DS game now that the television is off. 

“What contest?” asks Dad, entering the kitchen. 

“Oh, it’s nothing really,” I say. “Just something Mrs. Green was talking about at school on Friday . . .” 

“It’s the big spelling bee, and they want all the kids in the third grade and up to be in it,” pipes up Cole. “Mrs. Green said she hopes Sophie signs up, since she’s such a great speller.” 

“That sounds like a wonderful opportunity for you, Sophie,” Mom says. “You are really good at spelling.”

“Sign up first thing Monday morning,” says Dad. “Maybe we can start you studying this weekend. Did they give you a list of spelling words?” 

“I need to check my backpack, Dad. It’s out in the garage,” I say, trying to change the subject.

“Come on, Cole, Mom told us to get the paper.” 

“Why can’t you go out to the driveway by yourself?” he complains. “We’re not even through eating.” 

“Go help your sister,” Mom commands. 

We head out the garage door to the driveway. “You are such a tattletale,” I say, nudging Cole once we are out of earshot. “Why’d you have to tell Mom and Dad about the spelling bee?” He elbows me back. Then we both stop in our tracks. Three hairy pigs are running around our front yard.

My Review:

3.5 stars

As this is the first book in the series, we start by learning the three things about Sophie: she’s spunky, wants a goldfish, and doesn’t like this spelling bee. While that seems to be her description through most of the book, we do learn more about her, and this is where the story did well. Even with the limited character development (and even though it’s been a while since I was in middle school), I could relate to Sophie’s struggles, particularly in dealing with Nathan, as her experiences and reactions were realistic, particularly her relationship with her younger brother.

I also liked how the author wove life lessons into the story organically, which kept them from feeling preachy. My favorite parts though were the cultural aspects woven into the story and the (as I refer to them) “only-in-Texas moments.” These parts strengthened the story and added in humor while educating the reader on other cultures.

My only problem with this book is that aspects of it are underdeveloped. For example, the chapters and side stories focusing on Sophie and her family rather than the spelling bee, while there to further introduce the characters, come across disjointed and feel like they were added on as an afterthought, rather than a developed part of Sophie’s life while preparing for the bee.

Plus, while we get to know details about Sophie and her family, other prominent characters are underdeveloped, especially Nathan. For example, it’s hinted that Nathan has an abusive dad or bad home life. Yet this goes no further than being mentioned, presumably to be dealt with in future books. However, the way these mentions are dropped in and then just left, especially with the scene with Nathan and his family at the end of the book, comes across very awkwardly. I felt there should have been more said or this detail should have been left out, as it just felt very awkward to have that scene and then have two rainbows and sunshine concluding paragraphs. These underdeveloped parts left a noticeable hole in book 1, so I hope they are fleshed out in future books.

Overall, I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a nostalgic trip down memory lane or for anyone looking for a clean, wholesome read (complete with a few good life lessons) for your middle grader.

*I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.*

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Author Bio and Links:

Tonya Ellis loves reading so much that as a child she took books with her everywhere rather than put them down. She knew she wanted to become a writer after an article she wrote was published in her hometown newspaper when she was fourteen years old. Since then, Tonya has worked as a journalist, written for newspapers and magazines and won awards for her books. She is the mom of three spelling bee champions, and has judged several spelling bee events. SOPHIE WASHINGTON: QUEEN OF THE BEE is her debut novel in a series about Sophie and her friends. Currently, Ms. Ellis lives in Missouri City, Texas with her husband, daughter, and two sons.

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Secrets from Myself Review Tour

Blurb:

Twelve-year-old Katelyn has always heard voices and had visions. She's long suspected she was hearing from past lives. But when she runs away from home and hides out with an old friend in Vancouver, things become more real. She even finds herself writing the words of someone else in a diary - the words of someone whose fate was deeply impacted by the Komagata Maru incident.

As Katelyn learns more about the Komagata Maru and the person communicating with her, she realizes that she has a task to fulfill that will correct a wrong from the past.

Excerpt:

“I think it’s time to talk about sending you back home,” says Jane.

I am sitting in her office for a session. I am anxious, torn about leaving Vancouver. Arbutus House is starting to suffocate me, but I am not finished. I can’t let Akasha down and I’m certain I can’t do anything for her from Nelson. Proving she was real and finding justice for her murder will take some form of hands-on evidence.

“I don’t really think I’m sick, mentally or physically. I’ve never believed that. I don’t have much control over my little ‘episodes,’ but I would never

run away from my mom again, I can promise that. I just don’t know if I’m ready to go home,” I say.

“I hear what you’re saying, but given all the tests you’ve had, and all the therapy we’ve worked through, I think Arbutus House has exhausted what we have to offer you, Katelyn. That said, before we talk about ending your treatment, I do have some things to say I think you’re not going to like.” Jane is wearing a poker face. My skin prickles at the prospect of what she’s about to say.

“I can’t imagine what you’re going to say that would bother me. I’m weird. I’ve heard it all before.” I give a dismissive shake of my head.

“Before, we talked about your attempts to seek attention with your behavior. It seemed to me that your mother had to be the intended recipient. But after meeting with you both, separately and together, I don’t think that’s the case. Then I met your friend Bryce at the barbeque and I started to put the pieces together. I think you have strong feelings for him and you haven’t been handling his move to Vancouver very well.” Jane waits for my reaction. I can feel heat flooding my face. If Jane could tell, in one meeting no less, that I have a crush on my best friend, who else has figured it out? I’ve worked so hard to make sure nobody knew!

“How is that any of your business? What does Bryce have to do with my ‘episodes’ and my mental health?” I can’t conceal the offence and anger in my voice.

“When did your condition worsen? When did you really start the strange writing in your diary and having these intense dreams?”

“I don’t know, exactly. I’ve always had blackouts, you know that. It all got worse a few months ago, maybe a little farther back.”

“I’m not saying you did this consciously or even targeted Bryce’s family …” Jane is still talking but her voice fades out of my hearing after the words “targeted Bryce’s family” — as though I’m a malicious stalker. I sit in my chair, folding and unfolding my hands, waiting for the noise to end and for her lips to stop moving.

“Do you think another two weeks here at Arbutus House would prepare you to head back home to Nelson?”

“I don’t know. It’s hard to say. Can we talk about it again next time?”

“By all means. You’ve done some good work today. I know I challenged you and it was hard to hear what I had to say. You’re being very mature. So I have a homework assignment for you. Do you still have your diary?”

Oh no! She wants to read my diary! I frantically go over in my mind everything my precious book contains. It’s no use. There’s no way I could share even a part of it. In a flash, I picture being forced to hand over the book to Jane or Mariah.

“Yes, I do. I brought it with me when Mom and I left Nelson.”

“Excellent. I want you to write a new entry in your diary. I want you to say goodbye to Akasha. Tell her whatever you want her to know, anything that feels like unfinished business.” Jane’s enthusiasm for this task compels me to ball my fists.

“Do I have to show you when I’m done?”

“Not unless you want to. A diary is a private thing and it’s important for you to know you still have a private space. We would never cross that line unless we feared for your safety, or the safety of someone close to you.”

I do find it comforting to know that she won’t go through my things unless she thinks I’m potentially violent.

“I’ll go ahead and put the paperwork together for your release. We need one final meeting with Dr. Werdiger. He can refer you back to Dr. MacDonald in Nelson. We’ll have your mom come by as soon as she’s able. All we need is her signature and you can go home.”

“Great. That’s great. I’m looking forward to it.”

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Author Bio and Links:

Located on BC’s beautiful West Coast, I write from my suburban Langley home on the border between peaceful forests and urban streets.  I love writing about places and spaces with rich history and visually fascinating elements as a backdrop for the surreal and spectacular. 

In addition to my undergraduate degree in writing and literature, my background also includes corporate communications and design. I am a current member of the Federation of BC Writers and SF Canada.

When not writing, I have a habit of breaking stuff and making stuff – in that order – under the guise of my Etsy alter-ego Sleepless Storyteller.  I share my eclectic home and lifestyle with my husband and our two energetic children.

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