“We are the Golds! We’re golden!” he boomed at me. “No Gold is average!” Dad was going ballistic, but Calli’s fourth grade report card said it was so. Now a fifth grader, Calli Gold is an average in a family of overachievers. Mom quit her job in industry to manage her “Golden” children’s lives. She keeps “the Calendar”—the family’s master schedule of older sister Becca’s skating lessons and competitions and high school brother Alex’s basketball practices and games—complete with color-coded Post-Its for each child. These she sticks to the steering wheel of the minivan as she shuttles Becca and Alex to their important events. Calli has a color, too, but her Post-Its are only for doctor’s appointments because Calli does nothing. And it’s not for want of trying—her parents have tried giving her lessons on every sport and instrument imaginable, only to fail as Calli never succeeds in finding her passion. All of the other Golds are loud, and Calli is a quiet, thoughtful girl. She notices the little things in life, and they give her moments of insight—but you don’t get trophies and ribbons for those. Calli is content with her two best friends and ordinary school life, but most days she spends her after-school hours in the back of the van, going with Mom to deliver and pick up Becca and Alex. Dad and Mom keep pressuring her to find a passion, so that at the dinner time ABC game (Alex, Becca, Calli) she can report out on the amazing things she’s done that day, too. One day at the skating rink, again awaiting the end of Becca’s practice, Calli notices a small boy lying under the hockey-foosball table. He’s wearing a zipped-up dark blue jacket and his hair is a mess. She crouches down and tries to talk to him, but he is unresponsive. She notices a tag in his jacket with the name Noah Zullo written on it. Noah refuses to respond, and Calli becomes worried. She tries to get her mom’s attention, but Mom is too involved in a problem with Becca’s team’s costumes and refuses to hear Calli, so the matter is dropped. But in an amazing coincidence a few days later, Calli’s class begins a Peer Helper Project (PHP) with a second grade class, and Calli notices Noah hiding under his desk. She offers to peer with Noah, and somehow the “average” girl who notices things becomes a lifeline to a scared, lonely little boy on the brink of being diagnosed with autism (likely, although the syndrome is never named). Because Calli has suffered from feeling inferior her entire life, she can relate to Noah’s fears of being ridiculed by others and his anxiety over his diagnosis. When Calli’s and Noah’s teachers come up with the idea of hosting a PHP Friendship Fair, she and Noah decide to create a Secret Friendship Booth—because they’ve learned that friends keep each other’s secrets. Calli finally has an event to post on the Calendar, but of course it conflicts with Alex’s and Becca’s pre-existing commitments. There are only 2 parents, so who will attend Calli’s event? Enter feisty Grandma Gold, who tells it like it is! Grandma attends Calli’s fair, but the climax of the story brings fear and anxiety for Noah has gone missing. His dad dropped him off early, but Noah never met up with Calli…where could he be? In a flash of insight, Calli knows where he will be, and she finds her true calling. Debut author Hurwitz has taken a situation common to many modern children and created a cast of characters around it that faithfully portrays a lifestyle many tween girls will relate to. She also lets young readers see what happens when the kids in the story have more insight than their parents do, and how child-parent interactions can lead to growth for children and parents alike. One chapter includes some discussion of puberty, bras and chest development, and a chant by the boys (u-ter-us!) from the gym teacher’s introduction to the health unit—perfectly appropriate material for a book whose audience is upper elementary girls. This audience will be looking for more stories from this up-and-coming author who truly understands them.

Recommended by Shari Shaw, Librarian.