BEA IS FOR BLENDED

Bea’s family of two becomes a family of nine.

For as long as rising sixth grader Bea Embers can remember, she’s lived with her mom, close to Aunt Tam and Grandma Bea. Now, though, Mom is pregnant, and they’re moving in with Mom’s new husband, Wendell; his three sons; and their three pets. Though Wendell’s a refreshingly sensitive man who cries without shame, his son Bryce bullies Bea’s best friend, who seems to have OCD, and mocks Bea for having gotten the Most Valuable Girl soccer trophy while he got Most Valuable Player. Peppered with spirited sarcasm and trenchant observations, Bea’s narration points out the unfairness in the ways boys and girls are socialized—and, particularly, how Bryce never seems to be held accountable. When the school principal tries to keep the girls from forming their own soccer team, the thrust of the story becomes the girls’ efforts to do so anyway, aided by supportive adults. Bea’s teammates, especially her new neighbor and the new girl at school (who is deaf and has an ASL classroom interpreter), inspire her with strength. Even as Bea finds sympathy for Bryce over the death of his mother when he was very small, Bryce distances himself from his obnoxious friends. The resolution to the storyline of the obstructive principal feels unrealistic, but Bea’s team’s communal success is real and wonderful. Characters read as White by default.

Charming and heartfelt.