As the new girl in school, sixth grader Minnie McClary doesn’t know what to say. She’s nervous that she might say the wrong thing and her classmates or her new teacher, Miss Marks, won’t like her. But Miss Marks is encouraging the class to ask all the questions they can think of, especially the ones with difficult answers. The more questions Minnie asks – about her uncle who lost a leg in Iraq and now lives in her basement, about her Muslim friend Amira who gets bullied, about her unconventional but inspiring teacher, about her dad’s courage to lose his job over doing the right thing, and especially about herself – the more she feels the need to speak up.

This is a fabulous book. The story has plenty of its own questions to ask – about war, religion, prejudice, kindness, taking a stand – and doesn’t pretend that there are any easy answers. Whether you are someone who always speaks up or someone who sometimes has trouble speaking to people at all, you need to give this book a try. ( )

I have not yet read this book.