The story of a girl on the cusp of middle school is full of lots of small moments in ordinary life; there's nothing dramatic, but it's all interesting, and there's enough going on, and enough food for thought, to invest the reader in Ryan's world.
But most of all the story is full of love --from her parents, from her friends (with empathy even coming from a boy she hadn't before been able to quite trust), from her teacher, and from herself--not just love back to all those people, but loving herself, and believing, as the title promises, that she will keep on building dreams. Though the honor of being her class valedictorian comes with the horror of public speaking, Ryan rises to the challenge. And her speech, which brings this part of her life, and the book, to a close, says something many of us need to be reminded of--
"So, instead of telling you to dream big and change the world, I want to say, go change your world--your family, your neighborhood, your community. I've learned that it's not only important to dream of doing big, big, big, things, it's also important to dream of simple, everyday things we can do to make the world a better place."
Yes. I needed to hear that.