Andromeda—just call her Annie, please!—is a preteen from Brooklyn who has a loyal best friend named Millie, an annoying big brother, freckles and an unusually good memory.
When Annie’s family is forced to move to the tiny burg of Clover Gap, she’s not thrilled about a lot of things. She has a lot of questions: Did she cause their move? Will she lose her best friend? Will she fit in at her new school?
Clover Gap is nothing like Brooklyn, and as Annie navigates her new house and new school, she details her thoughts, likes, dislikes, wishes, rumors, conversations, apologies and more in list form. Surprisingly, this makes for a very readable format for the stream-of-consciousness wonderings of a preteen brain.
Clover Gap turns out to be not so bad, but it’s truly a growth experience for Annie as she realizes that the more life changes, the more things stay the same.
For a story mostly written in list form, the reader learns surprisingly a lot about Annie. Kristin Mahoney utilizes a clever format that will draw in both reluctant readers as well as young girls like Annie, who are just trying to find their way in the world.
