This is Me
Written by: Stephanie Craig
Recommended for ages 12 and up.
$8.99 Puffin Canada

Growing up in a slightly dysfunctional family, Shelagh finds refuge in the strangest of places, a retirement home. Things at home are tough on this adolescent. Her Dad is a workaholic. Her Mom has always got a new boyfriend and she doesn’t have much in common with her siblings.

Tanya, Shelagh’s best friend, comes up with a plan for a new club at school. She has named it Match Made Before Heaven. The idea is to match students with seniors in a retirement home in hopes that a friendship will ensue. It is intended to help the old folks by having a young person in their life but surprisingly the children gain as much from the relationship as their elders. Shelagh’s partner is a lovely woman named Dorothy who helps her answer many of life’s toughest questions.

This story touches on different aspects of a thirteen-year-old girl’s life. There is a boy in whom Shelagh is interested in as well as the age-old challenge of getting along with siblings and the hard cold facts about divorced parents. Unfortunately, there is also the realistic fact that we are not here forever and death is inevitable for elderly people. Craig has done a beautiful job of combining these conditions of life into this, her first novel. It will be interesting to look for more novels by this author.