Where You'll Find Me

by Natasha Friend

The first month of school, thirteen-year-old Anna Collette finds herself...
DUMPED by her best friend Dani, who suddenly wants to spend eighth grade "hanging out with different people."
DESERTED by her mom, who's in the hospital recovering from a suicide attempt.
TRAPPED in a house with her dad, a new baby sister, and a stepmother young enough to wear her Delta Delta Delta sweatshirt with pride.
STUCK at a lunch table with Shawna the Eyebrow Plucker and Sarabeth the Irish Stepper because she has no one else to sit with.

But what if all isn't lost? What if Anna's mom didn't exactly mean to leave her? What if Anna's stepmother is cooler than she thought? What if the misfit lunch table isn't such a bad fit after all? With help from some unlikely sources, including a crazy girl-band talent show act, Anna just may find herself on the road to okay.

Genres: Middle Grade, Young Adult, Realistic Fiction, Mental Illness, Contemporary, Mental Health, Friendship

272 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 8, 2016

About the author

Natasha Friend is the award-winning author of Perfect, Lush, Bounce, For Keeps, My Life in Black and White, Where You'll Find Me, The Other F-Word, How We Roll, and The Wolves Are Waiting. Natasha lives on the Connecticut shoreline with her family.

Reviews

[Kallam · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a child of a bipolar parent I found this book to be really accurate of the struggles a family goes through and the feelings of everyone involved. I found myself really enjoying each of the characters.

[Meredith (Trying to catch up!) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Where You'll Find Me brought me back to that awful time of being 13 and in middle school. Although this is a middle grade book, it's not only for middle grade readers. Some of the topics are sensitive, as the main character has to deal with finding her mother who attempts suicide. Although there is a lot of darkness, there's also a lot of lightness mixed in. Where You'll Find Me shares some important messages about family and friendship without being preachy. I wish I had this book when I was 13!


I received this book from GoodReads in exchange for an honest review.

[Maddie · Rating 3 out of 5]

A cute middle-grade book with some great messages about friendships and how families can be created in unexpected ways. It's really great to see more than just catty friendships being written about for this age group, and liked the awareness of mental health 'Where You'll Find Me' had.

[Kristen Peppercorn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was good. The writing style reminded me a lot of Judy Blume and Laurie Halse Anderson. This was a sweet little contemporary that went a lot deeper than the cover would have you believe. I can really see this book being a big comfort to a kid who is dealing with a parent who has bipolar or depression. I would recommend this if you're looking for a short contemporary with some substance.

[Victoria Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

Don't ever say you're too old to read middle grade books - this was adorable, and great no matter what age you are when you're reading it.

Anna was so relatable, even though she was going things that I've never experienced. Her mum has tried to kill herself, so she's stuck with her dad and step mum. As you'd expect, she hates it. Oh, and on top of that, her best friend has ditched her to become one of the 'cool kids'. Haven't we all been through that? Maybe not those exact circumstances, but everyone has fallen out with their friend over something, and been stuck with no one, or at least one person less. We got inside Anna's head, and it broke my heart. This girl had nothing going for her, and she was really struggling trying to cope with it all. The book was told with that honesty only a middle grade girl can have, and it had me nearly in tears countless times. She didn't dodge around subjects, discussing everything that needed to be discussed. It was sad, like I said, but it needed to be.

The one flaw was that it was a bit predictable. She thought the people she was forced to hang out with were losers, and hated her family. Hmm, I wonder where that's going? I've read a hundred books like that, where we get taken through the journey of someone trying to accept and love themselves, and other people. But I guess it's popular for a reason. It does work! Especially with the book being from Anna's point of view, we got to learn to love the other characters at the same time as her. I did hate Dani while Anna was still trying to cling to their friendship, but how can you not? By writing it like this, it made the supporting cast really lovable. They were all screwed up, but that's what made them close. It was so good for Anna to have people to turn to when she so needed to.

Despite the main point of this book being that Anna's mother has tried to kill herself, it didn't focus on that as much as I expected it to. Instead, it was more about Anna. As terrible as it sounds, I think it was really good for her to get away from her mum. Her mum was always a little crazy, and Anna being away from that crazy made her more normal. With being normal, she got to be happy as well, which she so deserved.

There's not too much more I can say on this book without spoiling it for you. But go and read it! Yes, it's predictable, but sometimes we all need that in our lives, right?

[Caitlyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Anna's voice is fantastic. This book is rare in that the character's snark, vulnerability, and frustrations read so true to her age even though we as readers are used to hearing from very young sounding/feeling narrators in middle grade.

[Emily Mead]

If I was rating this for myself I'd rate it 3 stars, but I feel like I'm not the target bracket so I'm not going to rate it.

AND THIS HAS SO MANY POSITIVE THINGS. I looooove love love that it's an MG about mental illness - not the MC, but her mother, who has Bipolar II. It shows that it's not the kid's job to take care of their parents.

Honestly, reading a lot of contemporary YA I see a lot of TERRIBLE parents who should barely be considered adults, and this was so refreshing.

Also, positive step-mother rep (once Anna gets over herself a little bit).

And female friendship + a capella singing.

Totally recommend for a sweet MG book with some really great mental illness rep.

[Robin Constantine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Where You'll Find Me is one of those books that sneaks up on you with its depth. Anna's voice is perfect - snarky, funny, heartfelt. A real gem.

[Erin Lynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

FTC Disclosure: I received an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

If you know me, you know that I just don't read any middle grade novel. I have to really be invested in the content and the plot for me to even consider reading it. When I first saw the synopsis for Where You'll Find Me, I thought that it sounded like it might be tackling too much, but what I found out was that it tackles just enough to teach its intended audience about life. Where You'll Find Me by Natasha Friend is one of the most compelling middle grade/YA books that I've ever read! I could not stop reading this charming and beautiful little novel that tackles so many different subjects in a truly wonderful and educational way.

Thirteen-year-old Anna Collette isn't having the greatest start to eighth grade. Her best friend has ditched her for the popular crowd, and she's essentially friendless. On top of that, she found her mom in bed after a suicide attempt and has had to move in with her father, his shiny new wife, Marnie, and their baby, Jane. It's all about adjusting for Anna - adjusting to her new home, adjusting to a new bus, and making some new friends along the way.

Now I said that Where You'll Find Me tackles a lot of subjects, right? The first is one that I think many middle school kids know all too well - being ditched. Yes, Anna's best friend since kindergarten just decides that they aren't friends anymore. Anna is devastated because she feels like she's lost a piece of herself. I think that so many seventh and eighth graders will be able to relate to Anna because of this because middle school is all about growing up and making new friends. It's all about experiencing new things, and Anna will have to do that all without a best friend. Seeing her deal with the loss of Dani is tough, but I think that Ms. Friend portrayed it all realistically. She shows Anna longing for that connection, but she also shows just how strong Anna is by making some new friends.

Along the way, Anna does make some new friends. She's at first resistant. She doesn't want things to change. She wants things to go back to the way they were in elementary school and seventh grade. She doesn't want to be friends with the people that everyone calls "freaks." Eventually, something breaks in Anna, and she realizes just who her true friends are. She starts going to slumber parties and football games with her new group of friends, and eventually, she opens up to them about everything going on in her home life. It's nice to Anna grow up. I found myself smiling and cheering her on, and I really think that she'll be a great role model for the older elementary and middle school students who will read this book.

There are also some darker subjects in Where You'll Find Me, and I'm actually really impressed that I finally found a middle grade novel that accurately depicts mental illness. For most of her life, Anna has known that her mom has depression. She knows that it started with postpartum depression, and that it's escalated from that. Anna's had to get her mom out of bed, force her to shower, and even call the school where her mom works when she needs a day off. To say that life hasn't been easy for Anna would be an understatement. But Anna's also in the dark about a lot of things, and she starts to find out more and more when she finds her mom in bed after ingesting a bottle of Advil. I know that not every middle school student will have to deal with what Anna has had to deal with in her short thirteen years, but I feel like Friend made an excellent choice when she decided to write about what it's like to deal with a parent who is mentally ill. Not only is it insightful, but I really think that a lot of young readers might learn something from this book. There's even one passage between Anna and her guidance counselor that I think will let young readers know that diseases like depression and bipolar disorder are nothing to be ashamed about:

I stare at her. "I don't want to talk to my friends about my mom."
"Why not?"
"It's ... I don't know ... embarrassing."
"It's embarrassing that she has a chemical imbalance in her brain?"
I shake my head. That's not what I mean.
"Would it be embarrassing if she had cancer?"
"No."

I also really enjoyed seeing Anna adjust to life under her father's roof. She's still angry at him for leaving her mother, but she needs to find a way to make things work. She's kind of icy when it comes to her stepmother, but hey, Marnie is only about a decade older than Anna. She can't sleep at night because her baby sister screams. It's inevitable that she's miserable. I don't have experience with a stepmother or half-siblings, but I think that the stress and angst that Friend includes in these scenes is warranted. It seems completely normal for Anna to be angry and confused about these new people in her life, and I really liked seeing the imperfect family moments.

I only have one complaint about this book, and it's not even all that bad. I feel like it's a bit too mature to be considered middle grade, but I feel like it's a bit too immature to be considered Young Adult. Neither of these issues are bad things; it's more like the publishing industry is just running out of labels to accurately tell readers where books fall. I think what Natasha Friend has done is created a book that is a perfect fusion of middle grade and YA issues. After reading it, I can see readers in grades 4-9 eating this up! There's a lot of leeway room with this one to reach so many different readers.

Natasha Friends Where You'll Find Me is a remarkable Middle Grade/Young Adult novel that so many different people will be able to enjoy. I can see parents reading this with their children. I can imagine middle schoolers checking it out from the library and devouring it. I can see middle school teachers teaching it in the future. It's a great novel about growing up when you feel the weight of the world on your shoulders. I would recommend this title to readers in fifth through eighth grades, but I would also recommend it to parents with preteens and young teenagers. It's a beautiful contemporary about how the ugly things in life can turn out to be beautiful, even if they are unexpected.

[Alycia · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was emotional, yet understanding.

[athirah amri (athirah_bookstagram) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dumped. Deserted. Trapped. Stuck. "Sometimes all isn't lost"

[LaRaie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book so hard. I am going to read another Natasha Friend book ASAP. Ah, where to start?

Oh the heart! The characters! There is so much depth in the way the author writes the characters in this novel. There's a cheerleader, a bipolar mom, a young former sorority sister step mom who makes kale and veggie burgers, a girl who hosts a party for famous women of history--there is a little something for everyone. It's a book about fitting in, about knowing what it means to be a friend, a daughter, a parent. The main character is dealing with some heavy issues of identity and what it means to be sane/insane, all the while trying to be herself, find herself, as a 13-year old.

I would say that this book is easily for a 16 year old, but because the main characters are in middle school (13) and the book doesn't delve into mature themes like sex and drugs, it's a middle school read as well. Fans of John Green, Stephanie Perkins, Laurie Halse Andersen, will eat this book up.
The way the author writes about mental illness, growing up, blended families, motherhood, daughterhood, and friendship is wise and meaningful. Never didactic. Sometimes laugh-out-loud funny.

Sometimes this book seemed a bit *too precocious, which is not surprising for this kind of novel. Does a 13 year old really think of a certain response by someone as a "naked comment?" Okay, maybe it's just me. I'm sure I'm just not giving credit to the all-too-smart-for-their-own-good young people of today. But once in awhile the perspective of these characters is blindingly astute. Maybe that's okay. In fact, maybe for writers, it's about pushing boundaries of their readers, to pique their interests, or cause--gasp!-- intrigue. Maybe it's about aspiring to be like them more than it is about being a reflection of who they are. In the case of this book, I wish I had read it when I was about 15. Oh me, who needed this precocious fictional beauties in my life. Where were you!?

I'm so happy you're here now.

p.s. Any book that portrays breastfeeding in a healthy and normal and positive way gets an A+

[Tine’s Reviews · Rating 4 out of 5]

(Source: I would like to thank Net Galley and to the publisher. This will not affect my review.)

I love reading books who talks about mental illness because I’m aware on one’s illness that I didn’t knew before. Though I admit I can’t relate to the characters but one thing I know for sure that everyone has their own shit.

Anna Collette is a middle school Student, she has difficulty coping with other people because she of her problems. 1. Her best friend Dani left her for new popular group in school. 2. Her dad has a new family. 3. Her mom is in psych ward because of the Bipolar 2. I felt bad for her because she can’t tell to other people what her true feelings is. She always remembers the good times of her family. In every divorce parents, the children who are most affected.

Sometimes we hate and not trusting the people around us because of the bad experiences but don’t be afraid to open your heart. Someday in your life, there’s someone who you can lean on. I know how hard the problem is. But you are not alone.

This book is not depressing. I saw what it’s like to have a parent suffering from mental illness like Bipolar 2. This gives me a new knowledge about Bipolar 2 because I didn’t know that it is existed.

Kudos to Ms. Natasha Friend for writing this book. Its an eye opener and remember that no one is perfect and everyone has their own shit.

At the end of the book there is a telephone hotline if you think your parents are suicidal. It is twenty- four hour available. I just want to share with you guys because this is serious matter.

[Kathy Martin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Anna Collette isn't having a great start to eighth grade. Her best friend Dani lost her braces and gained boobs over the summer. Now she is part of the popular crowd and has left Anna behind. Anna's mother has attempted suicide and is now hospitalized which means that Anna is forced to live with her father, his new young wife and their toddler baby daughter. She is very worried about her mother, feeling friendless, and just generally feeling scared and lost.

Things might not be as bad as Anna thinks. Her mother has a new diagnosis and a new variety to medications and it looks like she is gradually becoming more stable. The girls she is eating lunch with may seem weird to the outside world but they are lots cooler than they look. Even her father's new wife is a much nicer person than she thought she was.

The was a great story about dealing with changes and looking deeper. I really liked Anna and felt bad that she had so much to deal with. I liked that her teachers and her school counselor tried to reach out to her and kept reaching even when they didn't get any response from Anna. I liked that her new friends accepted her as she was and gave her new interests to help her get her mind off her troubles. I also liked the way her dad tried to find new ways to communicate with his daughter.

Fans of contemporary middle grade stories will enjoy getting to know Anna.

[Estelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

So wonderful. Natasha Friend does such a fantastic (and important) job of discussing mental illness and its stigmas in this story of a 13-year old girl whose mom has been recently diagnosed with bipolar. At the same time, Anna's best friend has left her to be friends with the cool kids and she's spending more and more time with her Dad's new wife and her baby half-sister. There are so many great layers to this story from Anna's rocky relationship with her stepmother (who is going through her own rough patch too) and finding a new circle of friends where she can be herself. Friend also succeeds by sharing the side effects of Anna taking care of her mom solo, and also the resentment she feels toward her father for their divorce.

One of the best middle grades I've read -- ever. This is a must, must read. It might sound a little serious but I can assure you there are some very lighthearted moments too (like an awesome girls trip to Atlanta).

Keywords: mental illness, children of divorce, friendship breakups, stepfamily relationships, therapy

[Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a sweet book with plenty of substance that I think a lot of middle school girls will relate to. I definitely remember feelings of frustration and heartbreak when I lost best friends to middle school and high school drama. I appreciated Anna's humor and gumption, and I adore Sarahbeth and Shawna. I thought their friendship was similar to that of Willowdean, Millie, Amanda, etc. I like that they own their quirks. I also adored Marnie. Now that I'm an adult, I actually really relate to Marnie instead of Anna.

I can't say why I can't give Where You'll Find Me more stars. I liked the book, and I think it's one that a lot of kids will relate to and enjoy more than I did. But it's obviously not a book that is for me.

[JoopsBooks · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a good book to read but it is quite sad. I don't think if you are a person is easily sad should read this.
There are points in this book that might make someone upset or uncomfortable but I recommended it. People need to realize that depression weirdness and step parents are someones reality. The end is worth reading the whole book.

[Cherish · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book “ Where you’ll Find Me “ by Natasha Friend is about a thirteen year old girl named Anna . She doesn't live the life of a normal thirteen year old . Recently , she had to start living with her dad because her mom tried to commit sucide . Her mom is in the hospital and she barely gets to visit her . On top of that , she feels as if she has no one to talk to because her best friend Dani dumped her . Dani feels as if their lives are going in two different directions , and they break apart . “ Just because our lives are moving in opposite directions and we’re hanging out with different people doesn’t mean I don't care . “ Even though Dani still cares about Anna , she doesn’t want to hang out with her anymore .

Anna has to live with her dad , but she also has to live with her step mom , Marnie . As much as Anna wants to hate Marnie she can’t because she is very nice . She tries to talk to Anna , but Annas feels like it’s just not the same as Anna’s real mom . She also feels as if her dad can be judgy . Everytime Anna tries to talk about her , he’ll make a face , or dismiss the conversation . On top of that Marnie and Anna's dad are expecting a baby .


At school , Anna has made some new friends , Sarabeth and Shawna . She realizes that they all have interests in the same things , and they become close . They even decide to join the talent show together . While Anna’s happy with her friends , She is also happy at home . Her and Marnie are getting closer and they end up vacationing together . They both really enjoy eachothers company , and look forward to it again . Anna also gets to see her mom for the first time in a while . She doesn’t look very good. Her clothes are tattered , her hair is coming out , and she has gotten skinnier . Anna has a conversation with her , but it's not the same . She invites her to her talent show .



At the talent show Sarabeth , Shawna , and Anna end up winning for performing their song. Anna's mom and dad have an encounter , which ends up being very awkward . They end up going out to celebrate after . I would recommend this book to everyone . It really shows that you should be thankful for your family , because not everyone has a stable family .

[Ariana D · Rating 4 out of 5]

In Where You’ll Find Me by Natasha Friend, 13 year old Anna finds herself thrown into a stressful life full of changing friend-groups, new step parents, and a suicidal mother. Throughout the book, Anna finds unlikely friends in Sarabeth, Shawna, Reese, Chloe, and Nora. All of her friends help to support her through her hardships, and Sarabeth and Shawna convince Anna to do a talent show with them, which helps Anna to recover her voice. Anna’s new stepmother, Marnie, helps Anna to feel welcome in Anna’s father’s house, and even takes Anna to Atlanta when she feels Anna is on the verge of snapping. In the end of the book, when Anna’s mother is released from the mental hospital, all of Anna’s friends, Marnie, and Regina, a family friend, are there to support Anna and her mother. This is a fabulous book about friendship and trying hard for people you love. In this book, I really enjoyed Shawna as a character because she was humorous and sarcastic, even though she got portrayed as anti-social and witch-like. Shawna always added a blip of humor to the book which made it very enjoyable to read. One thing I would add to this book is more about Anna’s life before her mother’s attempted suicide, as I think it would be better help the reader to understand just how much Anna’s life changed. It would also help the reader to understand Anna’s relationship with her mother and Dani, her old best friend. Overall, this was a well written and good book, although it was a very easy read.

[Rachel007 · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book by browsing the library shelves today and I couldn't be more pleased than with my discovery of this book (and author).

13-year-old Anna's mom tries to kill herself and she moves in wit her dad, stepmom and half-sister, and, well, there's a lot to take in. Her best friend stops talking to her just because she's weird (I could so so relate to this), and she now sits with the "weird" girls table at lunch. What I loved about this book was how it looked honestly at Bipolar II disorder (which Anna's mom has), blended families, judging others, trichotillomania (which Anna's friend has, and they actually discuss! and don't just write it off), and how friendships can change. There's also no romance/crushing which was really refreshing. Anna's story was full enough. I adored this one - and the cover, too, even though it seems a little more happy than the book inside.

I think Natasha Friend will be a new author for me to read. :-)

[PinkAmy loves books, cats and naps · Rating 4 out of 5]

Following her mom’s suicide attempt, Anna moves in with her father, his barely-out-of-college wife and their infant. Her best friend dumps her right before the start of eighth grade and Anna is stuck at the weirdo lunch table. What if the weird girls aren’t that weird? What if her stepmom is both fun and understanding? What if her mom gets better? What if she doesn’t.

Anna has been more like a parent to her bipolar mom than the other way around. Parentification is common for kids whose parents have mental illnesses or substance abuse problems. WHERE YOU’LL FIND ME is an important book for parentified kids and their peers to destigmatize mental illness by placing it in the same category as physical illnesses. Kids will also relate to the difficulty of being on the outs with friends and the complexities of divorce and child custody.

Natasha Friend always has her pulse on tween and teen girls and their struggles.

[Trish · Rating 4 out of 5]

Anna has started the school year with everything against her. Her best friend has dumped her, her mother is in hospital after trying to commit suicide, she has to live with her father, 24 year old step-mother and her baby step-sister - who cries all night! Gradually Anna finds a way through it all, learns that she is stronger than she thought, and that other people can be supportive and caring - even 24 year old step-mothers! I enjoyed this book and will recommend it to my students because it deals with a mental health issue (bi-polar disorder) from a teenagers perspective in a sensitive and real way.

[ash🐞 · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn’t like it. Anna sounds like a mISuNDersTooD teen, and I really couldn’t stand it. Also the fact that she got to get away with thinking her mom was horrible for being depressed, nope. There are better books out there.

[Amber (YA Indulgences) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Review first appeared on YA Indulgences on March 13. To read my final thoughts, go to:
https://yaindulgences.wordpress.com/2...

I am such a fan of stories that revolve around friendship and family at the forefront. Where You’ll Find Me was exactly that. It was a refreshing change from reading stories that dealt with romance in some form. That’s not to say I’m not a fan of romance in books, but it’s always nice to read such a fulfilling friendship and family dynamic book. I loved seeing Anna’s relationships change throughout Where You’ll Find Me.

To say Anna’s dealing with a lot is a complete understatement. She’s left motherless (in a way), friendless and even family-less having to live with a father she doesn’t really know and his new family.

Anna was such a strong character and despite dealing with her mother’s mental illness, which matured her, she always acts her age. Anna grew up fast given her mother’s condition and her dad always being gone prior to the book’s beginning. Sometimes, in novels, characters will act older than they are because of their experiences. This isn’t bad, but I did like that Anna seemed like a regular thirteen year old girl who didn’t randomly drop philosophical thoughts. I really felt for Anna because she would blame herself for not noticing her mother spiraling down. Anna’s feelings were really varied, she was angry, sad, upset, scared, feeling guilty and of course, worried.

After Anna’s mother attempts suicide, Anna keeps the knowledge from people like her new friends she makes. I liked seeing Anna keep her family’s situation to herself and try to cope with it alone. This is so understandable because you never know how people will react. It was sad to see her think about her old friendship with Dani. Losing friends is always hard, especially when they’re the ones to leave.

The people Anna least expected to become friends with end up being the ones that accept her and welcome her. It was great to see so many interactions between Anna and her friends. She became closest friends with Sarabeth and Shawna. Both of them had interesting quirks and problems in their own lives. Sarabeth did irish clog dancing and Shawna has her own problem, which was trichotillomania (plucking hair). I was surprised to see trichotillomania in this novel since it’s not very well known. I liked how it helped Anna sort of “bond” with Shawna. Between Sarabeth’s silliness and Shawn’s sarcasm, I grew to really appreciate these girls in Anna’s life.

I liked that not only could I relate to Anna, but I could also relate to Marnie and Anna’s father. Marnie is my age and practically freshly out of college. Her wanting to go back to college made me nostalgic for my own college experience. I liked how she still wasn’t quite sure about where she was in life. I initially had reservations about Marnie because she was so young and married to someone so much older than her. Anna also had reservations about Marnie which was understandable. In the end, that didn’t matter to me. Marnie genuinely cared for Anna’s father as well as Anna.

I could unexpectedly relate to Anna’s father because he couldn’t deal with Anna’s mother mental illness. While cold, it seemed very true to life because not everyone can deal with such a serious thing. This dug a bigger ridge between his relationship with Anna which gradually changed.

I really liked how in addition to friends, Anna also had adults she could go to. There was Regina, her mother’s best friend, the school counselor and the English teacher who all reached out to her. It was nice to see that Anna wasn’t alone when she was going through this, even though it seemed that way to her.

As for Anna’s mother, she was an interesting character as well. In the beginning, she’s just diagnosed with depression but is later diagnosed with something else. I thought the portrayal of this mental illness was really well done. It was realistic to see how differently her mother would act and Anna never knowing how her mother would be.

I loved that despite Anna’s mother having a mental illness, her and Anna got along well a lot of the time, before the suicide attempt. Having a parent attempt suicide is an unbelievably hard thing to go through, due to this Anna is more reserved with her mother, which isn’t a surprise. Anna’s mother was constantly at the forefront of Anna’s mind. So much that Anna couldn’t sleep, would wake up from nightmares and have to leave class. The effects were so well done, relatable and intense in how ‘deep she would get in with the worrying. My heart broke over her not being able to get a break from worrying.

[Shay · Rating 4 out of 5]

To be honest, I've never read a lot of middle-grade contemporary. When it comes to contemporary I usually stay in the YA age range so I wasn't really sure what to expect of this one but I ended up really enjoying it!

Anna's thirteen, just starting eighth grade and her life is kind of falling apart. As girls will do, Anna's best friend decided they should spend this year hanging out with new people. On top of that, Anna's mom hasn't been right since long before her dad left her for a younger woman and now she's in the hospital recovering from a suicide attempt. Leaving Anna to live with her dad, stepmom, and new baby sister. Things aren't looking very hopeful to Anna and she's just waiting for everything to go back to normal. Unfourtantly for her, it's not that simple.

The author did such an amazing job with this book. Handling the issue of suicide along with so much else for a young audience in such a great way. It was never glossed over, while it was very much seen from a 13-year-olds perspective; where Anna didn't really understand it fully, how messed up her mom was and how much work it was going to take her to be better again.

There was so much I loved about this book, first and foremost being the girl power feel to it all. It takes Anna a little while to make new friends after being abandoned by her lifelong best friend. But when she does, it's with a bunch of amazing misfits who Anna judged at one point but quickly came to realize they were fine with who they were and having more fun than everyone else in the eighth grade combined. I loved the friendships between the girls, I loved when they signed up for a talent show together. It just gave off this amazing girl power feeling that I'm so happy to see in a middle-grade book.

Besides that, I was really happy with how Anna's relationship developed with her stepmom. Anna starts out hating her and her dad and blaming them for everything like any normal teenage girl. But there was some amazing development and some of my favorite parts were seeing her and her stepmom start to get close. They have a girls weekend away and everything. Again with the girl power!

The writing was great and fast paced. The whole story kind of reminded me of a Mary Amato book, she's one of my favorite authors who writes kind of lower YA contemporary and so that's a big plus in my mind. The downside came for me where the book felt a little bare-boned...it was more dialogue than anything and I would've liked a little more plot and story. Having said that, it is middle grade, not YA, so it didn't ruin the book for me or anything. Plus, isn't it always a good thing to walk away from a book wanting more?

I highly recommend this, especially to younger readers. This is something I definitely would've completely loved when I was 13. I loved it now when I'm almost 20!

[MsArdychan · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I first read the description of the book, Where You'll find me, by Natasha Friend, I was immediately interested. Middle School is a time of huge transitions from child to teen. I had a similar experience of getting dumped by my best friend when I was 15, so I could relate to the main character on a very personal level.

The story centers on Anna, who is facing not only getting dumped by her best friend, but the aftermath of her mother's suicide attempt. While her mom is in the hospital, Anna must live with her estranged dad and his wife (who is only 10 years older than Anna!). Anna feels anger, guilt, embarrassment, and loneliness as she tries to make sense of all these changes.

While I have never dealt with suicide in my family, my parents often fought in front of others and it seemed that the whole neighborhood knew about my parents screaming matches. I was often very self-conscious about this. So I felt that the book was right on target as it showed how embarrassing and upsetting it is to have well-meaning teachers give you the "if you need to talk" sympathy speech.

At first, I felt so sad for this girl. So many awful thing were happening to her at once. I felt like, wow, is this kid going to make it? Anna's journey mirrors her mother's; she is dumped by her best friend just as her mother is abandoned by her husband. Although Anna is not bipolar like her mom, she does go through some understandable depression and then she slowly emerges from it.

The author also showed how relationships change over time. As we move from preteen to teen, most people wind up drifting from their old friends to other groups of kids. They find their tribe. At first, Anna has no no one to sit with at lunch and settles for hanging out with the weird kids. Over time, Anna starts to see these girls for who they really are. These are smart, creative, fun individuals who draw Anna out of her shell and help her regain her self-confidence.

I liked that the book didn't have instant solutions to Anna's issues. Her (and her mother's) journey back to normalcy came in baby steps. From developing new friendships, to finding a way to come to terms with her parent's divorce, Anna grows up. She learns to accept what happened and to forgive herself for her anger and guilt.

I found this to be a wonderful book. It was difficult to read, at times, due to how sad it made me. But then, slowly, I could see hope for Anna, her family and her friends. I hope that many teens read this book and can see it's message of hope.

[Jess · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book ‘Where you’ll find me’ written by Natasha friend. Was a very good read and kept me interested from the first page. As soon as I read the first three pages I felt like I was in eighth grade with the main character Anna. I found myself going on the journey, learning how middle school works and how the rules have changes. This book had great messages and made me feel like I was there. I couldn’t relate to this book but I felt like it was good to read to become more aware of mental illness. This book is aimed at younger teenagers and was an easy read.

In this book the main character, Anna, is struggling with bullies and friends after her mum’s suicide attempt. After she has been living with her mum’s lows and highs and her dad remarriage and Anna’s ‘been there, done that’ it defines her mere 13 years on earth. She has learned how to shut out her emotions and throughout the book she learns how to overcome this. When her mother is in hospital she overcomes a lot of things and learns to become ok with her dad and find more friends that she can talk to and trust. This story shows her heart-warming story of social acceptance in middle school. In middle school she finds that all the rules have changed and on top of that her best friend, Dannie, just dumped her for people deemed cooler.

Throughout this story I found that I was asking questions to get to know Anna as she was very closed off at the start when she was concealing her feelings and hiding the real her. I didn’t like the character that played her dad as I found he didn’t understand Anna and how she felt or how she wanted to talk about the situation. The stress that was put on her dad’s family because of the situation also made it hard for them to talk without yelling. At the start I didn’t like Anna’s step mum but in the end I thought she was very helpful to her opening up and finding things to love in her life.

‘Where you’ll find me” is a heart-warming read and teaches young teenagers how to cope. This story succeeds to be a great read because it combines serious topics, such as divorce and depression, with humorous adventure. When reading the novel, I found myself wishing I could be as brave as Anna, as she remains who she is even when everyone around her changes. I would definitely read this book again as I loved learning about Anna’s detailed story and following her when she is overcoming all that is going on in her life.

[Harker · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for a honest review.

I liked this book for it's realism. From what I remember, middle school is actually as bad as you see it through Anna's eyes. Depression, especially when you're seeing a parent go through it, is some kind of traumatic.

The writing style was very easy to get into. I liked the friends that Anna ends up with, even if she was somewhat repulsed by them at first because they were the "freaks" at school. She gave them a chance and found some really great friends. Some aspects of their character were unique, such as the Irish step dancing and the plucking problem (trichotillomania).

There is one character about whom I'm not sure how I feel. Dani, the girl who dumped Anna for new friends at the beginning, can be seen as both good and bad. Her very person, the girl who wants to be popular and gets rid of anything that might make her otherwise, is a terrible person, but it happens a lot more than you'd think. However, she felt very one dimensional and cliche on the page. I didn't really see anything special about her; she was there to fill a role and she did, but that was it.

What I didn't like was some of the character development. Anna seemed like a relatively weak character in the first half of the book. I suppose this is meant to be due to some of the things she is going through, but as she'd been strong enough to care for her mother up until now, I can't see her spiraling so quickly into just going with the flow of being moved to her dad's house. I would've expected some rebellion.

I also felt like the step-mother character, while cool, was a bit cliche. In a lot of books where the step parent is at first seen as an intruder, they end up becoming cool and so much fun. I don't think it's realistic and at the very least it's been done dozens of times before.

All of these things considered, I still find it a book that would be good to read. It's a good choice for the middle grade/younger YA crowd as a introductory book to what it's like to deal with mental health issues, whether it's them, their parent(s), or their friends.

[Sandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of those middle school novels where life is not fair. It just seems that Anna’s life is crumbling all around her and she had no one, I mean no one to dump on. Her best friend had decided that this is the year that she was going to branch off and find other friends and her father also decided that he was branching off and he found himself a new family. Anna was left in a house with her mother, who was crumbling right before her eyes. Anna blames herself for her mother’s downfall, for “if only” Anna had seen the signs, she could have saved her. With all the downward twists in Anna’s life, she didn’t lash out or get depressed, Anna puts on a strong front. As I read, I could feel the weight inside Anna, I could feel how she wanted her life to reverse itself, she felt helpless yet Anna knew she had to resign herself to her new life no matter how different it now was. There were times that Anna expressed herself to the individuals in her life, a few comments spoken here and there about the situation at hand, it just seemed when she couldn’t handle things any longer she let go, sometimes her words not finding their targeted audience. She felt alone. She wanted her mom; you can feel her desperation in the author’s words. Her mother was dealing with her own issues and being a mother was not something she could handle at the moment, so Anna couldn’t count on her mother when she needed her. Anna resented her father. He did more than just walk out the door when he left the family that day and I had wonder if Anna and her father were ever going to build back that relationship and how. Reading this novel, I especially liked the honesty of Anna. The situation that she was addressing and her feeling were sincere and honest. I wasn’t too fond of the ending and I’m not stating why as that might spoil it for some but that is why my rating is what it is. The ending, to each its own.

[Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was happy to be a part of the Sunday Street Team for this adorable book by reviewing an eARC from Netgalley. This book was 4 out of 5 stars for me.

I really liked Anna as a main character. This book was more MG in my opinion, but Goodreads also classifies it as YA. Overall, it was a really great read. Anna’s trying to find her spot in her new life now that her best friend dumped her, and she’s stuck with her dad and her stepmother, due to her mother trying to kill herself. I’m not going to lie, the book was a bit dark. It deals with suicide attempts, with some bullying, with a child who is utterly lost about where she exists in this “new” life.

Anna’s best friend deserting her was one of the best things that could have happened to her, because she found new friends, who are actually there for her in her times of need. I kind of don’t like Anna’s dad, but he grew on me a little by the end. And the way Anna sees her stepmother changes drastically throughout the book, which is another change I’m glad for. There were quite a few hilarious moments scattered throughout the book, in addition to the heartache and the bullying/teasing so well-known to middle schoolers. I definitely don’t miss being thirteen years old.

There were moments where I wanted to slap at least one person, moments where I wanted to gush my happiness/relief, moments where I wondered what was going to happen with all the new people rallying around Anna. I think this book should definitely be read widely. It helps people remember what it was like to be in middle school, helps them remember how harsh preteens can be to one another. And it helps bring to light issues that a lot of people skirt around: mental illness, suicide, bullying, etc.

Final note: Natasha did a great job with this book. It’s a fast, enjoyable read that focuses on some hot topic issues. I’d highly recommend it.