"All the parents were asked to come in
for career week and do a demonstration.
I know.
It's just such a BIG demonstration!
We're the only ones in your class
who live out on a farm. I think it'll
be really interesting.
And at least everyone will get some
cider out of it.
Exactly!"
In this sequel to Stepping Stones (2020), Jen is adjusting to middle school life while living at Peapod Farm with her mother and her boyfriend. Said boyfriend has two daughters who often spend weekends at the farm. Jen and his daughter Andy have found work helping at a pumpkin patch nearby, which also has a haunted hayride. Others work with them. One of them is Eddie, the owner's nephew. Jen and Eddie have things in common, but it is Andy who has a crush on him.
Things become complicated, as so often happens in middle school. Andy's feelings for Eddie are romantic; Jen isn't at all interested in a romantic relationship. Still, feelings are complicated by many things including divorce, blended families, and new relationships. Jen is not a star student; she does, however, have a real talent for art and finds friends that way. When she stands up for Andy, following a spooky trick gone wrong, she realizes that others are experiencing their own troubles.
As she so ably showed with her first tale about Peapod Farm, Lucy Knisley brings emotional characters to life in a graphic-novel that is lively and engaging. Readers will feel empathy for each character and their reactions to the events shared. Of interest for some readers will be a focus on farming, and making apple cider. It's an honest accounting of the range of emotions many middle graders feel.
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