Donna Gephart

The critically acclaimed author of "Lily and Dunkin" delivers a heartfeltstory about two imaginative tweens who help each other find new beginnings.

In Your Shoes

Sarah Sammis

Miles is a good kid and apologizes without being coerced. He and Amy, slowly, and organically become friends. Their friendship also gives them the strength they need to deal with family issues.

The one thing that didn't work for me was the story Amy writes in her spare time. It's supposed to be her way of dealing with the stress of moving, being in a new school, and missing her father. But it's filler and it's presented with an unappealing typeface.

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Heaven Adore

Miles, a pretty average boy, absolutely loves bowling as he’s grown up at the bowling alley his parents run that his grandparents started. Yet, he always thinks of the worst possible scenarios of ways people could die…it’s been an obsession of his ever since his grandma died. And then there’s Amy, an imaginative girl who’s still grieving over the loss of her mother and is ashamed of now living at her Uncle’s funeral home with her Dad. So, what happens when Miles and Amy meet?
Okay, where do I start?

This WAS a page-turner! Even though it’s realistic fiction, it was super intriguing. I actually completed this in two days; that’s how good it was! I don’t know what it is, but for some reason, the novel did not feel too much like a Middle Grade. The writing style felt a lot like a YA, which I thought was interesting.

One thing that I enjoyed a lot was the fact that it was a sad book. It was very emotional, which is a first for me. I’ve never read a sad book, so this is my first, and it was well-written. It really gets in your feels!

The emotions of the characters felt genuine, even though the novel was written in third person POV. And I enjoyed how vivid it was that the characters had their own personalities, which added to the realism.

Amy was a writer, and she began working on a short story shortly after starting at her new school. It was super fun and creative because whenever she worked on the story, we would read it during that scene. It’s almost like we got a chance to tap into Amy’s imagination a little bit.

Something else that was clever was whenever a new chapter section, or frame in bowling terms, was about to come , the author would narrate right before it or even in between chapters. It’s like we got to see what she was thinking about what has already happened or give a semi-teaser of what was to come next. That was cool!

The only thing I did not like was the epilogue. So towards the end of the novel, Miles grandpa died, and in the epilogue, it shows him talking with his wife, Miles grandpa, and Amy’s mother wherever they left to after they died. It felt a little eerie to me; however, it was only a 2-page scene and honestly could be skipped since the book is practically over. This is LITERALLY the only thing I disliked. Oh, and I will mention that h**k was used, but only twice.

So, would I recommend this book? If you feel like getting emotional and want to show sympathy to book characters, then sure! It’s such a tear-jerker! You definitely won’t want to put the book down, despite the sadness. I give this novel a 4.5 stars!

In Your Shoes

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