Just Pretend
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3.8 • 5 Ratings
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- $9.99
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
NATIONAL BESTSELLER!
"Grounded and relatable." —Whitney Gardner, creator of Fake Blood
"Frank and honest portrayal of divorce, losing friends, and growing up" —Rex Ogle, co-creator of Four Eyes
Fans of Real Friends and Be Prepared will love this energetic, affecting graphic memoir, in which a young girl uses her active imagination to navigate middle school as well as the fallout from her parents' divorce.
Tori has never lived in just one world.
Since her parents' divorce, she's lived in both her mom's house and her dad's new apartment. And in both places, no matter how hard she tries, her family still treats her like a little kid. Then there's school, where friendships old and new are starting to feel more and more out of her hands.
Thankfully, she has books-and writing. And now the stories she makes up in her head just might save her when everything else around her—friendships, school, family—is falling apart.
Author Tori Sharp takes us with her on a journey through the many commonplace but complex issues of fractured families, as well as the beautiful fantasy narrative that helps her cope, gorgeously illustrated and full of magic, fairies, witches and lost and found friendships.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Led by an endearing and resilient heroine, Sharp's memoir makes a strong case for imagination as a middle school survival tactic. A freckled white seventh grader living in suburban Allentown, N.J., Tori doesn't have control over much in her life: her divorced parents, who are loving but distracted, argue about child support; her angry older brother bullies her; and she's not allowed to stay home by herself, even while her mom takes her sister to dance class. Luckily, Tori is relentlessly creative, leading art projects, creative writing endeavors, and role-playing games among her willing group of friends. At the top of the friend list is bestie Taylor, who has struggles of her own, including a strict stepmother who is uncomfortable with the girls' writing about goddesses. Sharp intersperses the autobiography with scenes from the fantasy novel Tori is writing, about an outcast fairy who befriends a lonely brown-skinned runaway named Penny. The memoir suffers from an uneven plot—late in the story, Tori confronts her father about not calling for months, though this is the first time readers hear of it. But backed by lithe illustrations peppered with late-'90s details, Sharp creates a portrait of a resourceful young artist using her passion to forge connections. Ages 8–12.
