Lisa Fipps

This book breaks your heart, heals it, and gives you hope.

Nothing goes right for Joe. Absolutely nothing. His mother doesn't want him, so she disappears a lot. His English grandmum does want him and raises him. They end up homeless when Joe's mother get arrested and leaves after bail is posted. Grandmum has to sell her house to pay the bail. Thankfully, Joe has two friends he can rely on. One notices that Joe is homeless and has a solution; Joe and Grandmum move to the mobile home park into an available trailer and meet Uncle Frankie, who runs the park. Uncle Frankie helps everyone because it's the "right thing to do. . . . If it means helping others or yourself, it's always the right thing to do." They may have a roof over their heads and a helpful, caring person with Uncle Frankie, but they still fight hunger and paying bills.

Spoilers follow.

Joe's life completely collapses when Uncle Frankie meets him after school because Joe's Grandmum is in the hospital. When he arrives, Joe sees his mother who coldly announced that his grandmother is dead. She is not happy to be responsible for her son again. When she sees the type of person Frank is, she leaves. Again. Joe cannot tell anyone that he's alone. He has no food, no money, nothing. He begins to smell and loses a lot of weight. Once again, his observant friends figure out what's going on and strive to help him. He fears the foster system. It's only after Joe becomes famous for flying through the air during a tornado that help arrives. He tells the hospital that he's been alone for a month. In this story, Child Protective Services does a great job matching him with a family.

I absolutely loved this book. It's heartbreaking but at the right level for middle school. It's a little "pie in the sky" but students need to have hope that everything can and will work out. It's a beautiful, uplifting book about how humanity can be human and provide what's needed because of love. Read the author's note at the end.… (more)

*Review contains spoilers*

Fifth-grader Joe faces one "and then...BOOM!" moment after another in this novel in verse. First, there's the "Mess with Mum," who has gotten into various kinds of trouble and compounded that trouble enough that her mother, Joe's beloved Grandmum, lost their house. Joe's friends Hakeem and Nick help them find a new place to live in their mobile home park, where heart-of-gold "Uncle Frank" helps them furnish their new place.

Together, Joe and Grandmum are just about keeping themselves afloat, when Grandmum dies. Joe's mom returns, but only briefly; she gets "the Itch" again and runs off, leaving Joe to fend for himself. He's scared to tell anyone she's gone, because his friend Nick told him about CPS and being in foster care, but problem after problem pummels Joe: school ends, cutting off his main source of food; his hot water and electricity are turned off, so the food that was in the fridge and freezer spoiled; and then a literal storm hits, in the form of a tornado. Joe can't get to the shelter with the abandoned dogs he adopted (Lucky, Duck, and Dawg), so he ties them to an oak tree - but the rope snaps, sending him flying.

In the aftermath, Joe finally gets the help he needs: medical attention, therapy, and a new home with the Davisons, who live on a farm with lots of animals (and food). AND THEN...BOOM! is about a good kid who takes on adult responsibilities and fears telling others when the adults in his life disappear. Joe struggles with hunger and cleanliness, despite help from teacher Mrs. Swan, Uncle Frankie, and his friends Nick and Hakeem and their families. Ultimately, Joe has a happy ending with the Davisons, who give him a safe place, kindness and caring and inclusion, and who support his desire to give back to others by starting free food pantries.

See also: No Fixed Address by Susin Nielsen, Deep Water by Jamie Sumner, Kyra Just for Today by Sara Zarr

Quotes

"Why the World Needs Comic Books" (4)

Every story boils down to
and-thens
and
BOOMS!
...the moments when
something happens
that changes
everything. (5)

"If you give when you can,
it's okay to take when you need to." (Uncle Frankie, 39)

When you're so used to doing everything for yourself,
you forget that others will help.
If you let them. (41)

"How do you know what the right thing [to do] is?"
I ask.
"If it means helping others or yourself,
it's always the right thing to do,"
Uncle Frankie says. (138)

Storms, like stormy people,
can be impossible to understand. (200)

"Sometimes the best way to take care of others
is to take care of yourself first." (Uncle Frankie, 202)

I'm mostly used to dealing with what's broken
after things go bad.
I guess I need to learn how to deal with things
before they get so bad. (232)… (more)

Independent Reading Level: Ages 10+
Awards & Honors: 2022 Association for Library Service to Children Notable Children’s Book

2022 International Literacy Association Notable Books
for a Global Society Award Winner

2022 National Council of Teachers of English
Charlotte Huck Award Honor Book

2022 NCTE/Children’s Literature Assembly
Notable Children’s Books in the Language Arts Award

2022 Jane Addams Children’s Book Award Finalist

2022 YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults winner

2022 YALSA Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults winner

2021 Internationale Jugendbibliothek White Raven

2022 YALSA Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers

Friends of American Writers Young People’s Literature Award

2023 Sakura Medal, Chapter Books Category (Japan)

2022 Judy Lopez Memorial Award Honor Book… (more)

Clever, poignant, well written, and important—Starfish is a beautiful book. I picked it up randomly because I thought a YA novel in verse would be a quick and easy step toward finishing this year’s reading challenge. It was a quick read, but so much more than that. And I think it’s even more important for adults to read than the tweens for whom it’s categorized. As a woman who’s struggled with weight all my life, I felt the depth of Ellie’s pain and frustration and shame, and I’m glad her story is out there to educate the world.… (more)