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Nothing seems to be going right for Julie Dorinsky. Her best friend, Abby, is hanging out with the gifted crowd, while Julie is struggling to keep up in school. She can’t even read the note Abby passes her in class. It seems as if everybody from her snooty older sister, Alexia, to her baby brother, Bean, is smarter than she is. There must be one thing she’s good at!

Behind the Story

Books and reading are just about the most important things in my life. When one of my children, Rachel used to say, “I hate reading,” I was very upset. When I realized she hated reading because she COULDN'T read I began working very hard to help her to learn to read. It was a lot of work for both of us, but today reading is one of Rachel's favorite pastimes. So of course the idea to write a story about a girl who has trouble reading and feels like she is dumb comes from some of my experiences with my daughter. Like Rachel, Julie in this story learns that she is does have important talents. My children tell their friends “This is my mom. She is a writer. Anything you say can and will be used in a book.” They are right.

Publisher: Orchard Books

Buy the book: Amazon

Download the Teacher's Guide for this book. [896 KB PDF]