One Alley Summer

The summer before middle school is a time of anxiety and change. A pitch-perfect novel in verse about one girl’s wish to simultaneously break free and to belong. In the summer before her first year of middle school, word-chanting, rope-skipping Phee skips her way to imagined fame, writes down her innermost secret thoughts from the safety of a treehouse, and imagines in horror that her new classmates will eat her alive. Suddenly, her well-worn alley world feels too small. So when Mercy Jones moves next door, along with Mercy’s skateboard and her don’t-mess-with-me attitude, Phee sees the chance for her universe to expand. Even if it means leaving some things behind . . . It is a time of dares, of a legendary dog named Bull, of stretching comfort zones, and of old friendships made over in new ways. And it all takes place over the course of one alley summer. Using pitch-perfect, richly rendered verse, Anne Ylvisaker captures the tone and insights of one girl’s wish to simultaneously break free and to belong. - Easily accessible verse with pitch-perfect tone for middle grade readers - Phee is a deeply relatable character and narrator - The summer between elementary and middle school is a universally fraught time, and this story perfectly captures the anxiety we all know so well - In the end, a positive, feel-good story about friendship and growing up - Older readers will recall with joy and angst the summers of their own youth