The Map of Me by Tami Lewis Brown
Published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Pages: 160
Ages: Middle Grade (8-12)
The note Momma left on the fridge says only: “I HAVE TO GO.” But go where? Twelve-year-old Margie is convinced that Momma’s gone to the Rooster Romp at the International Poultry Hall of Fame, in search of additions to her precious flock of chicken memorabilia. And it’s up to Margie to bring her home. So she commandeers her daddy’s Faithful Ford, kidnaps her nine-year-old sister, Peep, and takes to the open road.
As she navigates the back roads of Kentucky with smarty-pants Peep criticizing her every move, Margie also travels along the highways and byways of her heart, mapping a course to help understand Momma—and herself.
When everyone in the world seems to misunderstand you and life is harder than it should how do you handle the abandonment of one of the only ones who supported you. Margie goes after her. One afternoon after a particularly hard day at school, that includes her little sister teasing her relentlessly, Margie comes home to a note on their chicken decorated fridge “I HAVE TO GO”. Without the support of her father and with her sister tagging behind her she borrows her dad’s prized truck and begins to search. What she discovers makes her own “The Map of Me” come to life.
How many times can I say this? Middle school and that in between time is hard. It’s one of those time periods I’m not looking forward to for my own kiddos. I yearn for them to have every bit the opposite experience as Margie did in The Map of Me. Hopefully with any luck they will feel that I’m someone they can depend on to support them and make home a place a refuge for them. In the very best outcome I’d hope they know how very proud I am and how much I value them for what they contribute to everyone they know. Unfortunately for Margie, she just didn’t have that or so she believed.
Can you even imagine having a genius nine year old sister join you during that time? A sister who points out every fault and mishap hoping that it will only make her look better, because she is obviously still only a nine year old emotionally speaking. In addition to this it’s obvious from the few pages you see Margie’s parents interact that there’s obviously something not quite right. Her entire world is wrapped up in three people who she believes wish that she didn’t exist or at least that she’d be better or different. Who hasn’t felt like that to a certain extent, especially during that age in life? It’s this reason above all others that I feel young readers will connect with Margie instantly, because she “gets” them.
Margie’s mission to find the mother that abandoned her is nothing short of an adventure filled with page after page of self-realization. With every turn and place they encounter she questions who she is and why she’s doing it. Her journey to discover who she is makes Margie’s character so real. It’s not a typical story where she goes from point A to point C and suddenly she’s discovered who she is, but it’s timed perfectly.
Life is hard enough as a sixth grader to not have to deal with a genius sister and parents who don’t seem to need each other any longer. When Margie’s mom disappears one day her journey to find her leads her to her own personal discoveries about who she is and just what she wants her own “Map of Me” to be made up of. Tami Lewis Brown tells a perfectly timed fast past read that middle grade readers everywhere will connect with instantly. The Map of Me is a story about a girl who fades into the background until she has to take action and what happens from then on out is nothing short of an adventure.
The1stdaughter Recommends: Ages 8 and up. Tweens and parents alike will relate to Margie’s plight as she struggles to discover just what makes up who she is.
Giveaway!
The author has been kind enough to offer up two copies of The Map of Me for a giveaway here at There’s A Book! Thank you!
Make sure to take a look at the details and enter by using the form below.
Find The Map of Me by Tami Lewis Brown at the following spots:
Powell’s Books
Indiebound
Barnes & Noble
Goodreads
Make sure to stop by tomorrow’s blog tour stop at the Broken Tusk for a guest post with Tami!
Thank you so much to the publisher, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, for sending a copy for review! Find them on Twitter, on the MacKids Blog as well as on Facebook.
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Sounds sweet. Great review
Great post…as usual. ^_^ This tour was my first time hearing of this particular author but it sounds like the simple story actually holds a lot of emotion…and I can’t help but love the names the characters were given. Thanks for the share…and good luck everyone!
[...] is sharing his interview with an author with a brand new book out, The Map of Me. His mom reviewed it just yesterday and loved it! So, without further hesitation on our part, the Turkeybird’s 20 [...]
This sounds like such a good story! It sounds like one my daughter would really enjoy reading. Thanks for highlighting it, and for sponsoring the giveaway!
THis one sounds good. I’m going to miss reading all of the new middle grade fiction books this year. I’ve been on the Cybils panel for MGF for several years.
BUT I’m looking forward to working on and enjoying all those early chapter books. I thought I’d visit all of my fellow Cybils panelists and say hello. So hi. I’m looking forward to working together.
This sounds like a grat book:)