Giddy Barber Explodes in 11

September 1, 2024
Sometimes, being "the responsible one" takes a toll. Ever since her older brother started college, 15-year-old Giddy has been expected to care for her three younger siblings. From getting them up and on the bus in the mornings to fixing dinner and ensuring their homework gets done, Giddy does it all. She can't remember the last time she smiled, her stomach constantly burns, and she's exhausted. She sees a post on an alternative medicine forum about "opposition therapy"--a term coined by the poster for their experiment in reversing their habits and doing something unexpected each day. Intrigued, Giddy begins her own trial to see whether 11 days of doing the opposite of what everyone expects of her will snap her out of her grayness. Her new behaviors quickly grab the attention of her family, teachers, and peers. The level of detail that debut author Havranek provides about Giddy's thought processes behind each choice bogs down the story's flow. Giddy's mother, an overworked nurse, is impatient for her oldest daughter to go back to the way she was. Not until a tragic accident does her mother show true remorse for the weight she's put on Giddy. While Giddy ultimately realizes on her own that she needs therapy, there's a missed opportunity in not further addressing mental health ramifications within the story or in backmatter. Major characters are cued white. A well-meaning if sometimes muddled story of one teen's efforts to break free of parentification.(Fiction. 12-18)

COPYRIGHT(2024) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

September 15, 2024
Grades 8-11 Every day, 15-year-old Giddy Barber is solely responsible for ensuring her three younger siblings get ready for school and on their school buses, even though it makes her late for school. Her parents work at a hospital and are not reliably around or awake, so someone (i.e., Giddy) has to do it. Adding insult to injury, Giddy's "friends" are mean and shallow, compounding her anxiety. When Giddy encounters a post online about opposition therapy--the act of doing the opposite of everything one normally does as a means to combat depression and anxiety--Giddy takes the opportunity to try it for herself for 11 days. At first, she gets mixed results, but she soon learns through her trial to set boundaries with friends and family. Havranek creates a realistic and relatable story, thoughtfully approaching mental health through the lens of a teenager just trying to solve it all herself. This debut will especially resonate with readers who understand the parentification of older siblings and how counting on a child to pick up a parent's slack can negatively impact a young person's mental health.

COPYRIGHT(2024) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.