Focused
by Alyson Gerber
Realistic Fiction
* * * Stars (Pretty good)
Clea is finding it hard to focus and she’s falling behind in school and having problems at home, too. Her folks take her to see a specialist who diagnoses her with ADHD. While Clea isn’t thrilled with the assessment, she also starts seeing the benefits of getting treatment/help. She starts taking medication to help her concentrate, learns strategies to help her cope, and learns to ask for help in school (like extra time and quiet spaces for her to take tests). This is good news, because Clea really wants to play chess on her middle school team and that’s not going to be possible if she can’t manage schoolwork. Some of her friendships have also suffered because of Clea’s ADHD, so some of her work involves frank conversations with others and apologies. She’s really trying, and readers will appreciate her efforts to be a better student/friend/person. Recommended for grades 6-8.
Reviewed by YA Librarian
