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Eight Days
Governor General's award-winning author Teresa Toten's story about one girl's transformative eight-day road-trip to retrieve her mother's body.
How do you face a heartbreaking past?
One day at a time.
Or as Aggie says, one crisis at a timel.
In Teresa Toten's compelling new novel Eight Days, Samantha finds out that the mother she thought had died years ago has actually just passed away. Added to this charged secret is her recovering alcoholic grandfather's strange behaviour and sudden insistence that he take Sami back to Chicago to retrieve her mother's body.
Luckily, Sami's beloved neighbour and surrogate mother figure, Aggie, insists on coming on the road trip, bringing along her quirky sense of humour and fantastic wig collection.
The eight-day journey takes us from Toronto to Chicago and back again, as Sami, an American living with her grandfather in a Muslim-dominated apartment complex in Toronto, struggles to find out who she is and where she belongs.
Infused with warmth and love, even as family struggles and secrets are torn open,
Eight Days is ultimately about forgiveness and strength in community. It is truly a novel for our times.
How do you face a heartbreaking past?
One day at a time.
Or as Aggie says, one crisis at a timel.
In Teresa Toten's compelling new novel Eight Days, Samantha finds out that the mother she thought had died years ago has actually just passed away. Added to this charged secret is her recovering alcoholic grandfather's strange behaviour and sudden insistence that he take Sami back to Chicago to retrieve her mother's body.
Luckily, Sami's beloved neighbour and surrogate mother figure, Aggie, insists on coming on the road trip, bringing along her quirky sense of humour and fantastic wig collection.
The eight-day journey takes us from Toronto to Chicago and back again, as Sami, an American living with her grandfather in a Muslim-dominated apartment complex in Toronto, struggles to find out who she is and where she belongs.
Infused with warmth and love, even as family struggles and secrets are torn open,
Eight Days is ultimately about forgiveness and strength in community. It is truly a novel for our times.
298 pages, Paperback
Published January 4, 2022
10 people are currently reading
165 people want to read
About the author
Teresa Toten
13 books210 followersMy earliest and most fervent ambition was to grow up and take my rightful place among the other mermaids. When cruel and insensitive adults crushed that dream by insisting that mermaids did not exist, I settled on the more mature aspiration of becoming an intergalactic astronaut. Then I realized that math would likely be involved. So, in the end, I went to Trinity College at the University of Toronto where I got a BA and then an MA in Political Economy taking great care not to take a single English or Creative Writing class. The only thing I knew for sure was that I was never ever going to be a writer. That would be silly, fanciful and well, unrealistic. And then I started to write...
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 33 reviews
February 5, 2022
I love a road trip and I loved this book. Sami Stanic lives on the edge of a very thin wedge. No mother. No father. Just a reformed alcoholic grandfather, Carl, whom she fears, without her constant vigilance, will return to drinking and abandon her. It's a fulltime job to keep herself safe. That sense of security feels as solid as a thin-shelled egg until ... it's not even that. The first chapter found me right there in the room, watching Sami, hearing Carl and finishing with a gasp.
Sami's and Carl's ensuing road trip is a moving journey – mile after mile. Here Toten also gives us a delicious dollop of glorious humour in the presence of good friend Aggie, and her wigs, who accompanies the pair. I know I'm fully immersed in a story when I wish I could be the friend of one of the characters in a book. I wanted to hug Aggie for all she was for Sami.
Sami leaves behind a burgeoning romance along with her best friend, both of whom are Muslim. The depiction of the Muslim community who live in the Towers apartment building where Sami and Carl live, is like music in the book. All of these characters are fully drawn, individual and provide a unique and beautiful backbone to the story.
Eight Days is a beautifully written novel with exquisite characters who live on every page and take us on their journey of learning how to see the reality of what was always there.
Sami's and Carl's ensuing road trip is a moving journey – mile after mile. Here Toten also gives us a delicious dollop of glorious humour in the presence of good friend Aggie, and her wigs, who accompanies the pair. I know I'm fully immersed in a story when I wish I could be the friend of one of the characters in a book. I wanted to hug Aggie for all she was for Sami.
Sami leaves behind a burgeoning romance along with her best friend, both of whom are Muslim. The depiction of the Muslim community who live in the Towers apartment building where Sami and Carl live, is like music in the book. All of these characters are fully drawn, individual and provide a unique and beautiful backbone to the story.
Eight Days is a beautifully written novel with exquisite characters who live on every page and take us on their journey of learning how to see the reality of what was always there.
January 23, 2023
4.5 Really touching YA book about young girl dealing with the effects of her family member's addictions. The good, the bad and the ugly are all included here. Highly recommend.
January 16, 2022
5/5 stars. I’ve never read a book by Teresa Toten that I didn’t love and this one was no exception. Full of heart and raw emotion this was a roller coaster of a read. So so SO well written and a book that doesn’t shy away from tough topics. Trigger warnings: drug addiction, alcoholism.
March 19, 2023
Eight Days by Teresa Toten is a realistic young adult fiction story about a 13-year-old girl named Samantha (Sami), living with her grandfather going through sobriety after her mother supposedly died 10 years ago. Little did she know, her mother was alive, but was suffering in a halfway house recovering from addiction, passing away recently. The novel follows Sami’s journey to her hometown, bringing her mother’s body back home. The book encompasses serious topics such as alcoholics, drug addicts and culture.
Personally, I give the book a 1.5 stars due to its blandness and not provoking the sentimental emotions I was planning on experiencing. I was anticipating this sense of learning and grief, however, the book seemed emotionless. There were multiple downsides of the book that I’d like to address.
For starters, our main character Samantha was a horrible narrator of the story. She expressed many emotions a teenager would in a situation that she was presented with, but I believe the author struggled to explain those emotions well. Samantha was shown as a matured, helpful teenager that never cried and it gave her character lots of room for development that we unfortunately never received and I will go into more detail later on. Samantha had her struggles with her untalkative grandfather, Carl and fitting in due to her bad reputation of her once alcoholic grandpa and the lifestyle he provided her. She tried wisping away her issues by aiding others and cleaning. Her life wasn’t horrible with her two great friends, Nilofer and Tarek (who she fancied) and the safe community that her neighbours provided. Her story appeared boring because we did not get to see the thoughts that swirled around in her head, despite being written from a first-person perspective. It was described through dialogue that she required full responsibility of a situation to feel calm and collected. I wish this information was delivered through her actions. There were multiple missed writing opportunities in the book that would’ve definitely elevated the text and your connection with our fellow main character.
The middle of the book was quite boring, it was an “emotional roller coaster”, that Sami found quite confusing and we never got the opportunity to see her discover these unknown emotions. She got this sense of nostalgia returning to her hometown 10 years later, hearing her mother’s voice in the back of her head and restoring several memories from the age of 3. The book had so much space for describing the emotions of a young girl trying to operate under all of this stress that was thrown at her, but that space was filled with boring dialogue that also missed the mark. Nevertheless, I loved the conversations between Samantha and Aggie (her neighbour that came along as emotional support for Samantha and Carl) because it seemed to be the most realistic thing I received. The story was stretched and I found myself scanning the pages getting the main idea.
After returning home, Samantha suffered from selfishness and I really really really wanted to see her go down that path of balancing self-love and selflessness because she definitely struggled with that. Towards the end of the book, she began putting her foot forward and becoming more of an individual, but that was the only hint of emotion we got. Nonetheless, the tears streaming down her face when she woke up in the middle of night after her mother’s “funeral” was definitely a milestone in Sami’s life as the stoic individual she was. However, it was the plainest crying scene I have ever read. I was expecting it to be quite dramatic since it was such a big deal that she was not a crier and I’d get to see Sami sink into the feeling, seeing the true beauty or disgust of mourning.
At the end of the book, we got more character development within Carl, who wasn’t even the main character. I understand that Carl was the big reason Samantha struggled in life, but it would’ve been cute to see the both of them developing a healthier relationship as they both learned to adapt and change with the circumstances, offering each other an equal amount of love. In this book, love and care was a big aspect. Sami felt an illusion of betrayal from her mother, not trying hard enough to fight her addiction and see her daughter flourish into a woman. Moreover, Sami struggled to believe that Carl cared for her enough and if Tarek reciprocated the same romantic desires that she did. All her life, love had been kind and rude to her, giving Sami another lesson that she could’ve learned from.
One last con, I believe it was quite evident that the author suffered from writer's block. There were moments in the book that seemed repeated, or like deja vu. I would never want to disrespect an author, but Ms. Toten created a character that could’ve had so much depth, but she never attempted to see further down the path. A few examples were: learning how to organise her emotions, reflecting upon the mark her mother left behind, better understanding her connection with colours, balancing self-care and selflessness.
Now, I have rambled about the cons of this book, but there were some uplifting moments, yet, were they enough to improve the book to the level of a nominated Red Maple award? I admired two large aspects in the book, the realistic world it created and culture. It’s fresh to see Canadian authors that are dipping their toes into South Asian cultures: describing their clothing, foods and using terms from different languages that I am familiar with. Personally, I haven’t read several books that surround these cultures so the book satisfied me in that sector. However, that’s the end of the list.
In conclusion, the novel Eight Days by Teresa Toten was a book that lacked character development, lacked the emotional roller coaster I was expecting, there were several missed writing opportunities and it was quite evident that the author suffered from writer's block.
Personally, I give the book a 1.5 stars due to its blandness and not provoking the sentimental emotions I was planning on experiencing. I was anticipating this sense of learning and grief, however, the book seemed emotionless. There were multiple downsides of the book that I’d like to address.
For starters, our main character Samantha was a horrible narrator of the story. She expressed many emotions a teenager would in a situation that she was presented with, but I believe the author struggled to explain those emotions well. Samantha was shown as a matured, helpful teenager that never cried and it gave her character lots of room for development that we unfortunately never received and I will go into more detail later on. Samantha had her struggles with her untalkative grandfather, Carl and fitting in due to her bad reputation of her once alcoholic grandpa and the lifestyle he provided her. She tried wisping away her issues by aiding others and cleaning. Her life wasn’t horrible with her two great friends, Nilofer and Tarek (who she fancied) and the safe community that her neighbours provided. Her story appeared boring because we did not get to see the thoughts that swirled around in her head, despite being written from a first-person perspective. It was described through dialogue that she required full responsibility of a situation to feel calm and collected. I wish this information was delivered through her actions. There were multiple missed writing opportunities in the book that would’ve definitely elevated the text and your connection with our fellow main character.
The middle of the book was quite boring, it was an “emotional roller coaster”, that Sami found quite confusing and we never got the opportunity to see her discover these unknown emotions. She got this sense of nostalgia returning to her hometown 10 years later, hearing her mother’s voice in the back of her head and restoring several memories from the age of 3. The book had so much space for describing the emotions of a young girl trying to operate under all of this stress that was thrown at her, but that space was filled with boring dialogue that also missed the mark. Nevertheless, I loved the conversations between Samantha and Aggie (her neighbour that came along as emotional support for Samantha and Carl) because it seemed to be the most realistic thing I received. The story was stretched and I found myself scanning the pages getting the main idea.
After returning home, Samantha suffered from selfishness and I really really really wanted to see her go down that path of balancing self-love and selflessness because she definitely struggled with that. Towards the end of the book, she began putting her foot forward and becoming more of an individual, but that was the only hint of emotion we got. Nonetheless, the tears streaming down her face when she woke up in the middle of night after her mother’s “funeral” was definitely a milestone in Sami’s life as the stoic individual she was. However, it was the plainest crying scene I have ever read. I was expecting it to be quite dramatic since it was such a big deal that she was not a crier and I’d get to see Sami sink into the feeling, seeing the true beauty or disgust of mourning.
At the end of the book, we got more character development within Carl, who wasn’t even the main character. I understand that Carl was the big reason Samantha struggled in life, but it would’ve been cute to see the both of them developing a healthier relationship as they both learned to adapt and change with the circumstances, offering each other an equal amount of love. In this book, love and care was a big aspect. Sami felt an illusion of betrayal from her mother, not trying hard enough to fight her addiction and see her daughter flourish into a woman. Moreover, Sami struggled to believe that Carl cared for her enough and if Tarek reciprocated the same romantic desires that she did. All her life, love had been kind and rude to her, giving Sami another lesson that she could’ve learned from.
One last con, I believe it was quite evident that the author suffered from writer's block. There were moments in the book that seemed repeated, or like deja vu. I would never want to disrespect an author, but Ms. Toten created a character that could’ve had so much depth, but she never attempted to see further down the path. A few examples were: learning how to organise her emotions, reflecting upon the mark her mother left behind, better understanding her connection with colours, balancing self-care and selflessness.
Now, I have rambled about the cons of this book, but there were some uplifting moments, yet, were they enough to improve the book to the level of a nominated Red Maple award? I admired two large aspects in the book, the realistic world it created and culture. It’s fresh to see Canadian authors that are dipping their toes into South Asian cultures: describing their clothing, foods and using terms from different languages that I am familiar with. Personally, I haven’t read several books that surround these cultures so the book satisfied me in that sector. However, that’s the end of the list.
In conclusion, the novel Eight Days by Teresa Toten was a book that lacked character development, lacked the emotional roller coaster I was expecting, there were several missed writing opportunities and it was quite evident that the author suffered from writer's block.
February 5, 2022
I LOVED this book. The characters are very compelling and I was gripped to figure out what was going to happen and how Sami would deal with this big revelation that turned her life upside down. It deals with hard and real topics but weaves in humor and makes it digestible for the middle reader age group. I particularly loved the setting with the backdrop of Toronto’s Throncliffe Park and the amazing mixture of cultures you find there, something you don’t see nearly enough of in books. Highly recommend!!
February 15, 2022
Such a well-written important book. It weaves in the transformation of life in Thorncliffe Park that has occurred there and in many other locales in Canada over the past 50 years into a story of personal discovery. So neatly done and obviously well-researched. All young adults in Canada should be able to relate to these changes and see how much our diaspora has been positively affected by bringing in so many shades of others cultural background. Bravo!
February 21, 2022
Samanta (Sami) Stanic is a great kid. The problems in her life have become more unusual than the frequent middle schooler's woes with bullies or overly cute guys two desks down. They (the difficulties) unfold in unexpected ways, some heart-wrenching, some quite surprising.
Her mother is dead--or is she? Her grandfather, whose apartment she lives in, doesn't drink anymore--or does he? And the huge community in the towers of Toronto's Thorncliffe Park are just ordinary folks--well, of course not, they're as varied as the wildest garden. Sami figures most of them out, with kindness and quiet enthusiasm, even making some friends, especially the extremely eccentric older neighbour Aggie, who wears a wide variety of wigs and can be heard calling out, "Bums up! Let's go!"
And Sami does go, getting things done at home, school and cleaning jobs, and working things out in the careful, expansive way she does in her thoughts, which author Teresa Toten lets us hear. What happens in the Eight Days to make it the title of this captivating book will surprise the readers, as they get to know Sami and accompany her on probably the most unexpected trip of her life, or anyone's.
It's with Carl, her grandad, who actually really loves her. Or does he? Yes, he does. That's not a spoiler--as soon as you read a bit about Sami, you'll know it's true. Some things are just hard to talk about, like mothers still recently alive, the rituals of neighbours from different cultures, etc. etc. etc. A terrific book to get involved in. Forgot to add: also very funny in many places.
Her mother is dead--or is she? Her grandfather, whose apartment she lives in, doesn't drink anymore--or does he? And the huge community in the towers of Toronto's Thorncliffe Park are just ordinary folks--well, of course not, they're as varied as the wildest garden. Sami figures most of them out, with kindness and quiet enthusiasm, even making some friends, especially the extremely eccentric older neighbour Aggie, who wears a wide variety of wigs and can be heard calling out, "Bums up! Let's go!"
And Sami does go, getting things done at home, school and cleaning jobs, and working things out in the careful, expansive way she does in her thoughts, which author Teresa Toten lets us hear. What happens in the Eight Days to make it the title of this captivating book will surprise the readers, as they get to know Sami and accompany her on probably the most unexpected trip of her life, or anyone's.
It's with Carl, her grandad, who actually really loves her. Or does he? Yes, he does. That's not a spoiler--as soon as you read a bit about Sami, you'll know it's true. Some things are just hard to talk about, like mothers still recently alive, the rituals of neighbours from different cultures, etc. etc. etc. A terrific book to get involved in. Forgot to add: also very funny in many places.
December 27, 2023
A lot can happen in eight days. And for thirteen year old Samantha (Sami), her week is a life changer. On the first day Sami learns that her mother, who she believed dead for the past decade, has only just died. Things grow stranger when Sami and her recovering alcoholic grandfather Carl set off on a road trip from Toronto to the US to retrieve her mother's remains. What sounds like a potentially morose tale is actually bitingly funny, thanks to Sami's wry outlook on life and the rich cast of supporting characters from Carl her acerbic grandfather to caftan wearing neighbor Aggie with her collection of 'girls' (wigs) who tag along on the trip, and her sweet best friend (and maybe more) Tarek left at home, all co-existing in The Towers, their apartment building largely populated by Muslim families. While billed as middle grade fiction, Teresa Toten throws Sami into situations that would be heartbreakingly rough for a far older protagonist - walking the line being alcoholism and sobriety, drug addiction, racism, and dealing with grief. But Sami is no ordinary middle-grader; she's had to act the part of an adult since the day she landed in her grandpa's care as a toddler, always striving to be useful and trouble-free so that her grandfather will want to keep her. I loved this book for its page-turning road trip, its bighearted spirit, and unshakeable sense of humor even in the darkest moments. The deeply likeable characters evolve believably in the intense eight days of the story. Highly recommended!
December 20, 2024
THIS BOOK...
So at the start of the book, they tell you that Sami's mom died because of a drug overdose and that her grandpa, whom she calls Carl was an alcoholic. Carl decides to show Sami her mom's house in America for 8 days, hence the title and the journey is supposed to be full of emotion and excitement.
Except, it's not...
You can clearly tell it's supposed to be packed with heartbreak and emotion but the way the author distributed it made the scene blank. The emotion was there for seconds, but then Sami made jokes or comments that ruined the emotion. That's the reason I was emotionless while reading the books. Sure, some parts were funny and all that but it wasn't what it was intended for. It was designed for people to feel pity and sadness at the sombre moments and laugh at the sweet moments. It did not make me feel this intended way.
So this is why I'm rating this book a 3. I enjoyed it but it just didn't make me feel how it was intended to make readers feel.
So at the start of the book, they tell you that Sami's mom died because of a drug overdose and that her grandpa, whom she calls Carl was an alcoholic. Carl decides to show Sami her mom's house in America for 8 days, hence the title and the journey is supposed to be full of emotion and excitement.
Except, it's not...
You can clearly tell it's supposed to be packed with heartbreak and emotion but the way the author distributed it made the scene blank. The emotion was there for seconds, but then Sami made jokes or comments that ruined the emotion. That's the reason I was emotionless while reading the books. Sure, some parts were funny and all that but it wasn't what it was intended for. It was designed for people to feel pity and sadness at the sombre moments and laugh at the sweet moments. It did not make me feel this intended way.
So this is why I'm rating this book a 3. I enjoyed it but it just didn't make me feel how it was intended to make readers feel.
March 20, 2023
I like road trips and this book was great. Sami is a resident of a pretty small area. No mother or father. Carl is her grandfather, an alcoholic who she believes may leave her if she isn't always on guard. Being safe is a full-time job for her. Until it's not even that, that feeling of assurance feels as stone as an egg with a thin shell. I was in the room during the first chapter, listening to Carl, observing Sami, and exhaling with surprise at the end. Mile after mile, Sami and Carl's future road trip is an intense one.
In this scene, Toten also provides us with a nice spoonful of hilarious humor when the duo is being attended by their good friend Aggie and her wigs. When I wish I could be a book's protagonist's friend, I know I'm totally engrossed in the plot. Aggie did so much for Sami that I wanted to hug her.
Sami and her best friend, who are both Muslims, are leaving behind a romantic connection. The way the Muslim residents of the towers apartment complex where Sami and Carl reside are represented in the book is similar to music. Each of these completely realized, distinct personalities serves as the story's unique and great foundation.
In this scene, Toten also provides us with a nice spoonful of hilarious humor when the duo is being attended by their good friend Aggie and her wigs. When I wish I could be a book's protagonist's friend, I know I'm totally engrossed in the plot. Aggie did so much for Sami that I wanted to hug her.
Sami and her best friend, who are both Muslims, are leaving behind a romantic connection. The way the Muslim residents of the towers apartment complex where Sami and Carl reside are represented in the book is similar to music. Each of these completely realized, distinct personalities serves as the story's unique and great foundation.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 21, 2023
Sami has a lot to deal with and it seems to keep getting piled on. Sami learns that her mother didn't die years ago, but just recently. Her grandfather, Carl, that she has lived with for 10 years, plans a road trip to collect Sami's mother's remains and a supportive neighbour, Aggie, comes along. There are a lot of components to Sami's stress and anxiety, as she struggles to make everything better for everyone, except herself. Alcoholism/sobriety plays a large role in Eight Days and could be triggering for young readers, but Toten handles the topic with care. Eight Days is about friendship, diversity, acceptance, and mental health/dependancy struggles.
While I, as an adult and educator, would have liked to see more character development, especially in Sami, I think the intended YA audience will find Eight Days a great novel. I would recommend it for grades 7-9.
Eight Days is nominated for a 2024 Northern Lights MYRCA.
While I, as an adult and educator, would have liked to see more character development, especially in Sami, I think the intended YA audience will find Eight Days a great novel. I would recommend it for grades 7-9.
Eight Days is nominated for a 2024 Northern Lights MYRCA.
April 11, 2024
Sami is forced to grow up way too fast when she is abandoned by her mother by addiction. Her grandfather raised her but he wasn’t big on talking or telling her that her mother was still alive.
Carl kinda sucks. He’s a liar and relies on a child to take care of his medications and meals and just lets her do it even though he’s the adult. He’s racist to boot. I found him annoying especially at the end.
Sami’s relationship with Tarek was cute and I loved Aggie even if she was a bit of a scammer. I enjoyed the story over all even though it was a bit repetitive in parts. The characters were believable and there was some character development.
(it was really weird that they pushed the button to cremate Shannon?!)
Carl kinda sucks. He’s a liar and relies on a child to take care of his medications and meals and just lets her do it even though he’s the adult. He’s racist to boot. I found him annoying especially at the end.
Sami’s relationship with Tarek was cute and I loved Aggie even if she was a bit of a scammer. I enjoyed the story over all even though it was a bit repetitive in parts. The characters were believable and there was some character development.
(it was really weird that they pushed the button to cremate Shannon?!)
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 15, 2023
This one's going to take some time to process, but it was so good. Sami is a protagonist going through so much, with such a trek ahead of her, and until things start to unfold it doesn't really seem large until it hits just how bad her situation is. But she doesn't stop going, that's what got me here, she's a bright light for so many people when she shouldn't have to be. I loved every minute of this, and I would wholeheartedly recommend it as an analysis of grief and processing, this was fantastic.
I will say, my copy had a few editing errors, but they were miniscule enough that I didn't really pick up on it as a regular occurrence.
I will say, my copy had a few editing errors, but they were miniscule enough that I didn't really pick up on it as a regular occurrence.
February 7, 2022
This book is excellent! I loved the interesting, diverse, quirky cast of characters. The book starts with a bang, a big revelation, and from there, there isn't a huge plot. Instead, you get drawn into the characters as they try to figure out who they are, where they fit in, and what support and community really looks like through challenging times. Toten is a beautiful writer
February 11, 2022
I have enjoyed all of Teresa’s books but this one seemed to hit all the right notes. I laughed, cheered and cried as Teresa took us on a road trip over the course of eight days to uncover a part of the past lives of the characters. Throughout it all shines the power of love for family and friends. A great read!
February 15, 2022
The stories of Sami, her late mother, and her grandfather unfold during an eight-day road trip. In addition to the road trip, the setting is multi-cultural Thorncliffe Park, where grandfather is uncomfortable because it's not what it was in his day. He and Sami find the meaning of community and family. Prepare to laugh and cry. A terrific read.
February 23, 2022
Toten elevates a road trip story with her masterful literary style and skill. Family secrets are revealed with a cast of lovable and oddball characters who show how fully the author has rendered each person within the world. Samantha and her cohorts go on an adventure for her to uncover secrets of her family and a mother she believed to be deceased. This is a must-read.
April 27, 2023
I don't see why people like this story. it's SO boring. I don't mean to be rude, but there was absolutely no hook keeping me interested in the story. I know it's about a girl who finds out her mother is still alive, but there was nothing keeping the readers actually interested, or maybe it's just me. Don't get me wrong, it's a sad book and I feel bad for Sami. but I did NOT like the storyline.
July 10, 2023
This is a fantastic book for tweens and teens. It discusses challenging subjects like alcoholism, prejudice, coping with loss but does it in a very authentic way. It introduces the reader to a variety of characters and how community can be family. An absolute must read for anyone living in an urban centre.
February 8, 2022
Such an interesting book. The author really took care to introduce and celebrate so many different religions and cultures, which I really appreciate. Overall this is a story about a young girl overcoming a lot of personal struggles but it's also a story about love beyond who is your born-to family.
July 6, 2022
Once again, Toten, has written a novel that I couldn't put down. The voice of Samantha is so spot on that I wished her well at every turn of the page. Toten packed so many layers into this middle grade novel. Well, well, done!
July 9, 2022
Sensitive, nuanced, and realistic portrayal of some very serious issues. A must read.
October 1, 2022
A well-written book. I will have to read more by this author.
November 25, 2022
The struggle to understand one's feelings and accept the love from friends and family flows through this novel. The positive feelings that eventually win...made me smile.
January 9, 2023
Superb story! I loved the plot, the characters, and the writing. Tough topics, but written carefully and with sensitivity.
February 26, 2023
This is what the world should look like. Different is awesome. Come together. I learned so much.
July 8, 2023
I was pleased to read the compassionate portrayal of Sami's mom's addiction.
August 14, 2023
i might have liked this book more if i didn’t have to read it for school
September 9, 2023
This story was so sweet and so heartbreaking. I cried my way through the story of Sami and Carl.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 33 reviews