Tune It Out
by Jamie Sumner
Juvenile Fiction
Realistic Fiction
Tween
* * * * Stars (Great!)
12-year-old Louise Montgomery can sing like the angels, but she has a sensory processing disorder that makes her extremely sensitive to noises and crowds, so performing is a real problem. Her single mother keeps scheduling gigs, though, because they need the money. One night, Louise crashes their truck on her way to pick her mom up from work and the police get Child Protective Services involved when they start to learn about Lou’s situation. Without even a chance to say goodbye, Lou is sent to live with her aunt until her mom is in a better position to take care of her. Lou is scared and upset and she feels like the situation in which she finds herself is all her fault. But after she’s enrolled in school and starts to make some friends and learns more about her disorder – including some strategies for coping with it/her triggers – she starts to feel like her new life may have some advantages over her old. Lou is a young girl with adult problems (homelessness, poverty, AND SPD), and she manages amazingly well. Her feelings and growth over the course of this novel seem very realistic, and in her case, at least, the adults and friends she makes are really on her side.
Reviewed by YA Librarian
