Third-grader Juice and her family tackle tough problems like poverty, unemployment and learning disabilities.
by Karen Sunderhaft
by Karen Hesse
Hyperion Books for Children, $15.95; for ages 9–12
Purchase Just Juice
Juice’s story starts as she’s about to start third grade for the second time. A resilient tomboy who can’t make sense of words and letters, she stays home with her unemployed Pa nearly as often as she goes to school.
Hesse writes about tough topics, such as poverty, unemployment, and learning disabilities, in gentle, inviting prose that makes the reader feel like a member of the large, warm Faulstich family.