Ivy Aberdeen's Letter to the World

by Ashley Herring Blake

Overview

In the wake of a destructive tornado, Ivy Aberdeen develops feelings for another girl in this stunning, tender novel about emerging identity, perfect for fans of The Thing About Jellyfish.

When a tornado rips through town, twelve-year-old Ivy Aberdeen's house is destroyed and her family of five is displaced. Ivy feels invisible and ignored in the aftermath of the storm—and what's worse, her notebook filled with secret drawings of girls holding hands has gone missing.

Mysteriously, Ivy's drawings begin to reappear in her locker with notes from someone telling her to open up about her identity. Ivy thinks—and hopes—that this someone might be her classmate, another girl for whom Ivy has begun to develop a crush. Will Ivy find the strength and courage to follow her true feelings?

Ivy Aberdeen's Letter to the World is an exquisite addition to queer middle grade—and children's literature at large.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780316515474
Publisher:	Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Publication date:	03/26/2019
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	336
Product dimensions:	5.10(w) x 7.50(h) x 1.00(d)
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

About the Author

Ashley Herring Blake is the author of the young adult novels Suffer Love, How to Make a Wish, and Girl Made of Stars, as well as the Stonewall honor novel Ivy Aberdeen's Letter to the World, The Mighty Heart of Sunny St. James, and Hazel Bly and the Deep Blue Sea. Ashley lives in Georgia with her husband and two sons.

Editorial Reviews

Same-sex attraction is rare in middle-grade fiction, so it's gratifying to see the full arc of [the] relationship as Ivy's feelings move beyond simple friendship. Blake captures all the exhilaration of a first crush without shying away from Ivy's confusion and her worries about acceptance. Blake is adept at revealing how powerfully a misunderstanding can lodge in a child's mind, and Ivy's…assumption about how her sister might react to her feelings for a girl adds another layer of tension to a family in crisis. The sisters' relationship is one of the great rewards of this novel that includes a large and vivid cast of secondary characters, who give the story its sense of abundant texture.

The New York Times Book Review - Nalini Jones

"Blake captures all the exhilaration of a first crush without shying away from Ivy's confusion....The sisters' relationship is one of the great rewards of this novel that includes a large and vivid cast of secondary characters, who give the story its sense of abundant texture."—The New York Times Book Review

"There are some books that we never forget. This is one of those books. Impactful, emotional, and important."—Erin Entrada Kelly, Newbery award-winning author of Hello, Universe

"A tenderhearted novel that should be in the hands of every reader."—Kat Yeh, author of The Truth About Twinkie Pie and The Way to Bea

"Ashley Herring Blake's novel captures the confusion, thrills and heartache of a first crush so perfectly that you will hold this book close to your heart."—Lisa Yee, author of the DC Super Hero Girls series

* " Ivy's story is no mere niche-filler in LGBTQ middle-grade realism—it's a standard-setter."—Kirkus Reviews, starred review

* "Filling a much-needed gap in middle grade literature, this story addresses not just the topic of a first crush, but also the invisibility frequently felt by middle children...Young readers will find Ivy's challenges very real and will sympathize with her choices, both good and bad."—School Library Journal, starred review

* "This is an emotionally sensitive and elegantly written novel about loss and the first stirrings of love."—Publishers Weekly, starred review

"This necessary and emotionally complex addition to the body of middle-grade literature offers readers a positive, complex, and courageous portrayal of burgeoning sexuality and relationships within the world of junior high."—Booklist

"Blake creates a sensitive portrayal of a preteen who's begun to figure herself out but isn't sure how she meshes with others, and of the bumbling and overstressed, but well-meaning, friends and family around her."—The Horn Book

From the Publisher

★ 2017-11-27
Twelve-year-old Ivy Aberdeen finds comfort in drawing; she keeps a private sketchbook the way other kids her age keep written diaries.After a tornado destroys her home, her notebook, filled with things Ivy isn't ready to talk about or trust with anyone, goes missing, and she feels the last bit of her world drop out from under her. The images are telling; there can be no doubt that the white girl with the "coiling mane" of wild strawberry-blonde hair is 12-year-old Ivy or that she's holding hands with a dark-haired white girl in every picture. When her drawings begin turning up in her school locker, Ivy's biggest fear comes true: someone knows her secret. The mystery person encourages Ivy to come out, but whom can she trust? Is she even ready? Blake's (Suffer Love, 2016) first middle-grade novel is characterized by rich, descriptive prose. The tornado scene is filled with breathtaking urgency as Ivy and her family run for safety, and the descriptions of Ivy's contradictory and confusing feelings capture the heartbreaking difficulty of a non-normative early adolescence filled with questions of identity and belonging. Most characters are assumed white; the black lesbian who owns the inn where the Aberdeens stay after the storm and who steps in as a surrogate mother while Ivy's own is occupied with insurance and a sick baby, is engaged to a brown-skinned Latina.Ivy's story is no mere niche-filler in LGBTQ middle-grade realism—it's a standard-setter. (Fiction. 8-14)

Kirkus Reviews