Having a dad with MS is serious but Maggie's story is full of humor. Her silly and self-assured voice will entertain and impress kid readers. Things I loved about this book:

1. Footnotes! From Bartimaeus to David Foster Wallace, I'm a big fan of the quippy footnote.

2. There are no bad guys. Everyone in this story is a decent person, which is rare. There are no villains, except MS and kind of Maggie's sister Tiffany (who's really not so bad). No one needs to be redeemed or saved. Everyone just grows and changes a little over the course of a year, which is realistic and, in this case, not at all boring. Also, here's a book for children that stars a child with two loving, living parents. A rare breed nowadays.

3. Speaking of parents, Maggie's mom is a wonderful character. Though everyone will be talking about Maggie's dad as the parent facing a debilitating disease with grace and dignity, Maggie's mom was the one who made me tear up. She reminded me of my own mom and all moms who do more for their families than seems humanly possible. I love how hard she worked and how appreciated she was by her family.

4. Maggie's voice! Overly confident, super naive, always positive or striving to be positive without being tiresome. Here's a kid I'd like to know. She loves food, school, rules and her parents. She almost never doubts herself, except when it comes to gym class.

This loving portrait of a strong working class family in the 80s was a great read. Though it tackles a sad and difficult issue, it never veers into melodrama. It's a little light on plot, but its characters and style shine. Recommended for boys and girls 9-12. ( )

Poignant, hilarious, and deeply emotional; Maggie's "memoir" about the year she turned 11 is an absolute joy. Extremely book smart and filled with big plans for the future (she will be president!), Maggie is happy that she's one year closer to voting and to college. There's only one thing in her life that's not great - her dad (well and her two older sisters - honestly they're more obsessed with lip balm than with grades!). Her dad's legs have gone pretty much all numb and he relies on his family to wheel him about and move him from place to place. Maggie is sure she can find a way to fix him - she just needs to get a hold of the M encyclopedia to see what he actually has. This is a charming and heartfelt coming of age story that features the most adorably naive and nerdy 11 on the planet (she even has footnotes in her memoir/journal!). An eye opening look at how children react to illness and big family changes. ( )

A lovely voice and a quirky kid. This has a nice and positive set of family relationships. ( )

Terrific character and voice in this middle grade novel. Eleven-year-old Maggie is a focused achiever who is a bit oblivious to what's going on with her dad (he has MS). Nicely weaves together a school story (and a boy crush), siblings driving each other crazy, and the tenderness of family members getting through some tough times. I'd love this book no matter what, but the connection to Multiple Sclerosis took me over the top with it. Done very well. Maggie's inner dialogue is hilarious. ( )

This is a really great book for the middle grades, and possibly some mature younger kids, about living with chronic illness in your family. In spite of the fact that the protagonist, Maggie, has a father with multiple sclerosis, the book isn't at all depressing. This is in part because Maggie's parents and sisters try to keep her, the youngest in the family at eleven years old, insulated from the knowledge of how serious her father's condition is. His health is deteriorating, however, and they can't hide it from Maggie forever.

But there's a lot going on here that's not about multiple sclerosis: school friendships, including that all-important first "friend who is a boy", Maggie's relationships with her imperfect but loving, definitely functional family, her science project at school, and all that comes with being eleven years old. I'm assuming, based on the dedication, that the book is autobiographical. If it is I envy the author having such a wonderful family. ( )