The In-Between

by Katie Van Heidrich (Author)

Reading Level: 6th − 7th Grade

For fans of Enchanted Air by Margarita Engle and Life in Motion by Misty Copeland, this middle grade memoir in verse chronicles a young girl and her family who must start over after losing their home.

In the early 2000s, thirteen-year-old Katie Van Heidrich has moved more times that she can count, for as long as she can remember. There were the slow moves where you see the whole thing coming. There were the fast ones where you grab what you can in seconds. When Katie and her family come back from an out-of-town funeral, they discover their landlord has unceremoniously evicted them, forcing them to pack lightly and move quickly.

They make their way to an Extended Stay America Motel, with Katie's mother promising it's temporary. Within the four walls of their new home, Katie and her siblings, Josh and Haley, try to live a normal life--all while wondering if things would be easier living with their father. Lyrical and forthcoming, Katie navigates the complexities that come with living in-between: in between homes, parents, and childhood and young adulthood, all while remaining hopeful for the future.

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Hardcover
$19.99

Kirkus

Starred Review
Stellar writing, perfect pacing, and a sophisticated treatment of universal themes make this a must-read.

ALA/Booklist

Van Heidrich's work is ideal for readers who enjoy real-world stories that read like fiction and don’t shy away from struggle

Publishers Weekly

This clear-eyed verse memoir by debut author Van Heidrich follows the "in-between time" during which she lived in a motel with her single mother and younger siblings in the early 2000s. After attending her grandfather's funeral in East St. Louis over winter break, 13-year-old Van Heidrich and her family arrive home in Atlanta to discover they've been evicted from their apartment, forcing them to move into a motel. Once winter break ends, Van Heidrich and her siblings return to school, where they try pretending that everything is normal, even though "going back to school/ from this rather abnormal place/ feels apocalyptic." Friendship and romantic conflicts, and her father's recent whirlwind marriage to a woman Van Heidrich barely knows, incite further emotional turmoil. As Van Heidrich shuffles between school, her father's sterile new house in the suburbs, and the cramped motel room that she currently calls home, she confronts questions of identity and navigates anxiety regarding an uncertain future. With sincerity and care, Van Heidrich skillfully depicts the complexities of housing insecurity, financial precarity, and adolescent growing pains via lyrical text in this unflinching yet hopeful read. Ages 9-13. (Jan.)

Copyright 2022 Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission.

Review quotes

The In-Between is a tribute to resilience in the face of adversity. Filled with compassion and tenderness, this memoir in verse will resonate with anyone who has ever felt stuck in between parents, in between homes, or in between childhood and adulthood. —Megan E. Freeman, award-winning poet and author of Alone
Katie Van Heidrich
An Atlanta native, Katie Van Heidrich graduated from Brown University with a BA in Africana studies and religious studies. Upon graduation, she taught fifth grade reading and social studies at a charter school in Charlotte, North Carolina, through Teach for America. Katie relocated to San Francisco, California, in 2015 and continued to teach and coach middle school social studies. Working with underserved children from diverse backgrounds, she is tasked with empowering students to reimagine the world we live in while affirming their place in it. In her daily teaching, Katie aims to help children realize their abilities to advance change. In her free time, Katie is an avid reader and self-proclaimed picture book enthusiast. She and her husband are the parents of two young sons.
Classification
Non-fiction
ISBN-13
9781665920124
Lexile Measure
-
Guided Reading Level
-
Publisher
Aladdin Paperbacks
Publication date
January 17, 2023
Series
-
BISAC categories
JNF042000 - Juvenile Nonfiction | Poetry | General
JNF007000 - Juvenile Nonfiction | Biography & Autobiography | General
JNF019000 - Juvenile Nonfiction | Family | General
JNF053070 - Juvenile Nonfiction | Social Topics | Homelessness & Poverty
Library of Congress categories
Family
Homeless persons
Coming of age
Moving, Household
Bildungsromans
Homeless families
Homeless teenagers
Autobiographical poetry
Homeless girls
Homeless youth
Van Heidrich, Katie

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