Tiny Infinities

by J H Diehl (Author)

Tiny Infinities
Reading Level: 6th − 7th Grade
When Alice's dad moves out, leaving her with her troubled mother, she does the only thing that feels right: she retreats to her family's old Renaissance tent in the backyard, determined to live there until her dad comes home. In an attempt to keep at least one part of her summer from changing, Alice focuses on her quest to swim freestyle fast enough to get on her swim team's record board. But summers contain multitudes, and soon Alice meets an odd new friend, Harriet, whose obsession with the school's science fair is equal only to her conviction that Alice's best stroke is backstroke, not freestyle. Most unexpected of all is an unusual babysitting charge, Piper, who is mute--until Alice hears her speak. A funny and honest middle-grade novel, this sharply observed depiction of family, friendship, and Alice's determination to prove herself--as a babysitter, as a friend, as a daughter, as a person--rings loud and true.
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School Library Journal

Gr 5-8--For 12-year-old Alice, swimming is her life, especially this summer since it's the only thing that hasn't changed. A serious car accident has left her mother homebound and their family scattered, living in four different places. In protest, Alice refuses to sleep in her home until the family is reunited, choosing instead to inhabit the backyard in the family's old tent. Late one evening she meets the new next-door neighbor, a young girl named Piper who does not speak. Soon Alice starts babysitting Piper and is surprised when she hears Piper speak--but no one believes her. With the help of a new friend, Harriet, and Piper's older half-brother, Owen, Alice sets out to prove that Piper isn't so silent after all. Alice is a strong, self-driven girl determined to excel in a sport underrepresented in children's fiction. The descriptions of swimming events are vivid and authentic, but, unfortunately, that does not extend to much of the dialogue, plot points, and characters. One-dimensional, absentee adults abound. Despite this, Diehl possesses real potential as a middle grade writer with descriptive imagery that can be quite beautiful at times. VERDICT An interesting, if uneven, story. A secondary purchase for most libraries.--Rebecca Gueorguiev, New York Public Library

Copyright 2018 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Review quotes

"Riveting and real, tender and thrilling. When I got to the end of this book I realized I was going to miss it like a friend." -Karen Romano Young, author of Hundred Percent and Doodlebug: A Novel in Doodles
J H Diehl
J. H. Diehl has an MFA from the University of Iowa Writers' Workshop; this is her first novel. She lives in Maryland.
Classification
Fiction
ISBN-13
9781452163352
Lexile Measure
790
Guided Reading Level
-
Publisher
Chronicle Books
Publication date
May 08, 2018
Series
-
BISAC categories
JUV039060 - Juvenile Fiction | Social Themes | Friendship
JUV039140 - Juvenile Fiction | Social Themes | Self-Esteem & Self-Reliance
JUV013020 - Juvenile Fiction | Family | Marriage & Divorce
Library of Congress categories
Families
Family life
Fathers and daughters
Neighbors
Family problems
Selective mutism
Mute persons
Children of separated parents

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