Author: Joanne Levy
Publisher: Orca Book Publishers
Pages: 248
Grade Level: 4 - 7
ISBN: 978-1459839533
Ruthie has an interesting and complicated life. She lives with her mom and her stepfather who she calls “Step Brad”. She has two older stepbrothers who occasionally stay over at the house. Ruthie also goes to visit her father each week. She has two constants in her life. One constant is her friend Jenna. Ruthie and Jenna are superfans of a book series about unicorns in a magical forest and they love to play they are the characters from the books. The other constant in Ruthie’s life is her dog, Izzy, who is named after one of the unicorns.
Ruthie has a lot of issues to deal with and is balancing them fairly well until Mom gives her some news. Mom is pregnant.
This news completely shatters Ruthie’s life for a time. A few years earlier, Mom was pregnant and the unborn baby boy died in the womb. Ruthie and her mom and dad were devastated. Now, Ruthie doesn’t want the same thing to happen to the baby like it did before and just does not want to talk about it or deal with it. She finds a friend who helps her make sense of things.
When I first began reading this book, I figured that the whole magical unicorn thing would not work for an Adventist school, but continued reading because one of my older girls loved the book. This story is NOT about unicorns or magical places or fantasy unless you count the two girls acting out their favorite book series. This book is about characters dealing with big feelings. They talk it out in therapy. They deal with them through journaling. I felt that this story is very real and important. I hope that you do not let the ‘unicorn’ keep you from reading this book and putting it into someone’s hands who may need it.
Reviewed by Audrey Campbell, MED
Reading Specialist and Library Media Center Director
Valley Adventist Schools, Rogers Campus
