e-Audio, 06:10:13
Narrated by: Bahni Turpin
Release Date: January 14, 2020
Published by: Katherine Tegen Books
Read from: December 15-16, 2020
Stand-alone
Source: Library
TW: Parent in prison
For fans of: Audio, Contemporary, Realistic Fiction, MG, Racial/Ethnic Diversity, DEAR, Diverse Authors, Own Voices, Stand-aloneZoe Washington isn’t sure what to write. What does a girl say to the father she’s never met, hadn’t heard from until his letter arrived on her twelfth birthday, and who’s been in prison for a terrible crime?
A crime he says he never committed.
Could Marcus really be innocent? Zoe is determined to uncover the truth. Even if it means hiding his letters and her investigation from the rest of her family. Everyone else thinks Zoe’s worrying about doing a good job at her bakery internship and proving to her parents that she’s worthy of auditioning for Food Network’s Kids Bake Challenge.
But with bakery confections on one part of her mind, and Marcus’s conviction weighing heavily on the other, this is one recipe Zoe doesn’t know how to balance. The only thing she knows to be true: Everyone lies.
*MY THOUGHTS*
Even though this was the exact right kind of book for me, it somehow slipped under my radar for almost an entire year! I didn’t even have it on my 2020 spreadsheet. And now after reading it, I really can’t believe I didn’t read this sooner.
Zoe got a letter from her birth dad whom she’s never met because he’s in prison. She sneaks the letter from under her mother’s nose, and reads it. They begin writing back and forth where he says he’s innocent. Can she trust him? Or is he lying? Zoe does everything she can to figure out the truth.
I think this would be a GREAT book to use for required reading. There’s not many resources for children that have a parent in prison, so this was amazing. And the fact that it also teaches about The Innocence Project and other resources to help prove their innocence makes this so much more better. This would also be a great read to pair with the YA book, This is My America by Kim Johnson.
As with most MG books, it was easy to read and wasn’t hard to follow. And the writing style was amazing too. I found that I could have binged it all the way through, but I had to do some adulting. But I finished it the next day while I worked. That’s how into it I was. I was able to listen straight through over 2 days.
The plot was what made this book for me though. Yes it’s about trying to help her father prove his innocence, but there’s also another plot point going on, like her fight with her best friend and if they settle it, her time with her grandma, and of course, how she handles getting and sending the letters. So basically, even though there’s time in-between the letters, there’s still something going on.
Lastly, I really liked the ending. *SPOILER*Some might say it’s all wrapped up nice and neat, but I think that’s kind of important in MG novels. I think they can handle the hard stories, but sometimes you need to get some good news too ya know?*END SPOILER*
I’m not sure how I missed this one, but I’m happy to say I didn’t miss it, it just took me a whole to get here. But now that I’ve read it, listen around for me to shout it from the rooftops to everyone, because I haven’t seen anyone talking about it. And that’s not ok.
Overall, I give this
