It’s going to take more than a haircut and some flowers to set things right. But when her anxiety becomes too much, everything begins to fall apart. With the help of Homer Juarez, the poetry-citing soccer star who believes in June even when she doesn’t believe in herself, she starts a secret library garden and hatches a plan to make her dreams come true. And she and her single mama will own their power as fierce, independent females. She shaves her head and sets two goals: she will beat her anxiety and be the lion she knows she can be, instead of the mouse everyone sees. Twelve-year-old June Delancey is kicking summer off with a bang. Through it all, from thrift store deep dives to disastrous dance routines, she begins to form her own definition of beauty and what it means to really be seen.įrom the acclaimed author of Tune It Out and Roll with It comes an inspirational and engaging middle grade book about a young girl who sets out to overcome her anxiety over the course of one life-changing summer. So it’s up to Ellie to figure out a way to do it on her own terms and make sure her friendships don’t fall apart along the way. There’s only one problem: the director of the pageant seems determined to put Ellie and her wheelchair front and center. But what’s she supposed to do when Coralee asks her to enter a beauty pageant, and their other best friend, Bert, volunteers to be their manager? Then again, how else is she going to get through this summer with her dad, who barely knows her, while her mom is off on her honeymoon with Ellie’s amazing gym teacher? Ellie decides she has nothing to lose. They’re Coralee’s thing, and Ellie is happy to let her talented friend shine in the spotlight. In the eagerly anticipated sequel to Jamie Sumner’s acclaimed and beloved middle grade novel Roll with It, Ellie finds her own way to shine.Įllie is so not the pageant type.

Tune It Out by Jamie Sumner