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A heartfelt and hopeful middle grade novel from Jacquetta Nammar Feldman, author of the Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection Wishing Upon the Same Stars, about family, joy, and growing up in the aftermath of a natural disaster. Perfect for fans of Nic Stone’s Fast Pitch and Erin Entrada Kelly’s We Dream of Space.
Seventh graders Sammy and Matty are the Putterman twins—the perfect team of two. But Matty has a secret he’s not ready to share with his family yet, and he suddenly quits baseball and stops talking to his sister. With their twin telepathy broken, Sammy doesn’t know what to do without her teammate.
Becky Putterman is sick of her family only cheering for her cousins, Sammy and Matty. They all used to be friends, but since everything became about the twins, Becky’s felt left out. With her bat mitzvah around the corner, she hopes it’ll finally be her turn in the spotlight.
But then Hurricane Harvey hits Houston, Texas, and the twins’ house is damaged in the flood. Their family moves in with Becky’s—which no one is happy about. As their grief, anger, and uncertainty grow, they’ll soon find they need each other now more than ever before. With all nine Puttermans under one roof, can Sammy, Matty, and Becky find a way to glue their family back together?
Jacquetta Nammar Feldman loves writing poetry and stories of all kinds. When she’s not curled up with a book or typing at her computer, she can be found hiking the beautiful hills of Austin, Texas, with her husband, two labradoodles, and a Havanese. She earned her B.S. in Advertising from the University of Texas at Austin, and she’s currently a candidate for an MFA in Writing for Children & Young Adults at the Vermont College of Fine Arts. Wishing Upon the Same Stars is her debut novel. Please visit her online at jacquettanammarfeldman.com.
Feldman discerningly highlights one family’s struggles navigating loss and learning to accept one another in this uplifting tale. — Publishers Weekly
“This sweet, thoughtful novel is a home run for readers learning to develop empathy and resilience with their loved ones and communities.” — Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books
Creating a large cast of believable characters, Feldman does a particularly good job of balancing the three cousins’ interwoven stories. The first-person narrative shifts from Sammy, adrift without her brother, to Matty, hiding a secret he’s reluctant to share, and Becky, trying to change her resentful attitude. An involving novel in which individuals reach out to help one another and find unexpected rewards. — Booklist
Themes of grief, fitting in, family relationships, and sexual identity shine in this baseball-focused book, making it more a story of growing up than a sports tale. This resonant story of hope, family, and finding yourself will be a hit. Recommend this to readers who enjoyed Joan Bauer’s Soar, and fans of heartfelt realistic fiction. — School Library Journal
A heartfelt home run for hope and healing, THE PUTTERMANS ARE IN THE HOUSE is a dynamic story that proves when families come together, they can truly weather any storm. Readers will be cheering in the stands for twins Sammy and Matty and their cousin Becky as they navigate first crushes, changing relationships, and a hurricane. Jacquetta Nammar Feldman's sophomore novel is out-of-this-park good. — Michael Leali, author of The Civil War of Amos Abernathy
A sad and sweet novel that takes a hurricane and turns it on its head: instead of leaving only destruction, this one becomes the crucible for restoration, when all the members of one family are forced to live together to survive the effects of Houston's Hurricane Harvey. Faced with past resentments, present insecurities, and future disappointments, these characters come together by helping each other find what they most truly love—and the surprising wholeness that results is a story worth telling — Gary D. Schmidt, bestselling author of National Book Award finalist Okay for Now and the Newbery Honor Books Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy and The Wednesday Wars
