We've read another of Abby Cooper's books, and I must say, I love the way she takes one small element, fantasizes but at the same time normalizes it, and then lets it play out to its logical conclusion.
This is her first book, and it was a Pitch Wars manuscript, too, which I didn't know she was a participant, but it's encouraging to read.
Elyse has a disease, a very fantastical disease, one where words that other people say about her appear on her body. The bad ones itch up a storm, the good ones feel, well, good.
Her parents have tried to insulate Elyse by educating her elementary school teachers and fellow students, and encouraging them to only use positive messages when Elyse is around.
But then Elyse starts middle school, and ... that insulation disappears. Elyse doesn't want anyone who doesn't already know she's got this word disease to find out. She wears long sleeves and jeans to hide even the positive words that appear on her limbs.
And we all know, middle schoolers are cruel. The words appear and the itching starts. Worse, the words Elyse is now thinking about herself start to appear, and they aren't very nice, either. The itching intensifies.
What gets her through it all is a goal, wanting to become the leader of the 6th grades major field trip, and a mysterious note-writer who offers encouragement and some strategic guidance for navigating friends and kids along the way.
This is an interesting take on a fantastical disease that reveals Elyse's deepest thoughts about herself, and what those thoughts can do to us all -- both positive and negative.
