The Other, Better Me
Author: Anthony John
Age range: 8-12
Reviewer: Jeanette Perkins aka Beeba
Lola is a ten year old girl living with her Momma in North Myrtle Beach. It has been just the two of them for as long as she can remember. Her life is rolling along in a routine fashion until a series of events turns her world upside down. Her teacher’s latest assignment is to write about “The Other Me”. This will be a project for each student to imagine a different life than the one they are currently living. This causes Lola to wonder about her father and what it would be like to be a family of three. Her mom has told her very little about her dad.
The book follows Lola’s quest to contact her father in Australia, deal with her mom’s serious illness and interact with Mallory, a bully in her class at school. Her best friends, Kiana and Nick come along for the ride and add their own slant to the plot. The story addresses many of the issues young tweens face today and how Lola deals with each one. This book is a great way to open discussions with a tween (or one of their friends) facing any of these situations.
BUY IT HERE
About the author:
Antony John was born in England and raised on a balanced diet of fish and chips and bizarre British comedies and ABBA’s greatest hits. To annoy his parents, he studied classical music at university. Now he writes books instead of music so he can wear sweatpants all day. He lives in St. Louis with his family, who think he’s weird for not liking chocolate. They might be right. Visit him online at www.antonyjohn.net.
About the reviewer:
Jeanette Perkins is the grandmother of two adorable grandsons. She lives in beautiful St Pete Beach, FL. Jeanette is a book and product reviewer for GRAND and is looking forward to reviewing lots of new and useful books and products for all us grandparents.
If you have a product for boomer grandparents and or their grandkids, tell us all about it in an email to editor@grandmagazine.com.
