We've got your back. With the Tough-O-Meter, you'll know whether to bring extra layers or Swiss army knives as you summit the literary mountain. (10 = Toughest)
(2) Sea Level
If Only is a middle-grade novel aimed at the widest possible audience, from grieving kids to the grown-ups who love them. The language is simple and direct—after all, if your brain is muddled from being in survival mode, you need something easy to read. This is an eighth-grader's chronicle of her life in the year after her mom dies, told in an authentic eighth-grader's voice. It feels a lot like reading someone's diary when you spend the night at her house and she falls asleep first… not that you would ever do that, of course.