The second middle-grade novel by Golden Globe Award­–winning actress Meg Tilly features Madison Harriet Stokes, a Grade 5 student who lives in the sleepy town of Rosedale, Oregon. Life is pretty ordinary and uncomplicated for the fun-loving, sensitive Madison, her middle-class parents, and her “irritating” five-year-old sister, Gina, until a reticent, skinny blonde girl named Alyssa Hawkins moves to town from Malibu. Madison and the tanned, tight-lipped new girl soon become pinky-swearing best friends, much to the chagrin of Madison’s pals Olivia and Isabelle. The girls share laughs and a love of chocolate-chip cookies and Archie comics – as well as a secret about Alyssa’s family that comes to strain their relationship.

Through well-crafted writing, convincing dialogue, and credible characters (including Joey Rodriguez, the class clown and Madison’s crush) all reminiscent of vintage Judy Blume, Tilly takes readers into the fundamentally different lives of the two girls as they manoeuvre through the often comical, sometimes bittersweet and melodramatic trials and tribulations of tweenhood. 

In a departure from the weightier subjects for which her writing has become known, Tilly paints an insightful, memorable portrait of the ups and downs of friendship and the unwavering bonds of family, delving into age-old issues of honesty, trust, and loyalty.

This feel-good tale of values, sprinkled with a dash of wit, is a pleasurable novel that engages and imparts wisdom, without the slightest hint of preachy, “I-told-you-so” stiltedness.