About this item
From Margaret Dilloway, author of Summer of a Thousand Pies, comes a heartfelt and funny story about a shy eleven-year-old who learns to manage her anxiety through improv classes - and discovers her activist voice. Perfect for fans of Sharon Draper, Lynda Mullaly Hunt, and Holly Goldberg Sloan. Eleven-year-old Ava Andrews has a Technicolor interior with a gray shell. On the inside, she bubbles with ideas and plans. On the outside, everyone except her best friend, Zelia, thinks she doesn't talk or, worse, is stuck-up. What nobody knows is that Ava has invisible disabilities: anxiety and a heart condition. Ava hopes middle school will be a fresh start, but when Zelia moves across the country and Ava's Nana Linda pushes her to speak up about social issues, she withdraws further.
About the Author
Margaret Dilloway is the author of middle grade and women's fiction. Ancestry.com says she's 51% Asian, as well as Irish and Welsh, though she's not sure how the extra 1% is possible. Her fictional character analysis says she's half Dumbledore and half Audrey from Twin Peaks. Awards include the Children's Literature Council of Southern California's Award for Best Children's Literature (Summer of a Thousand Pies) ; ALA's Asian/Pacific Islander Honor Award for Children's Literature (Momotaro: Xander and the Island of Monsters) ; the ALA Literary Tastes Award for Women's Fiction (The Care and Handling of Roses with Thorns) ; and the Pulpwood Queens' Bonus Book of the Year Award (The Care and Handling of Roses with Thorns) .Margaret is a long form improv performer and produces an online improv show, the Baby-Sitters Club Interactive Improv and Trivia show, a parody based on the book series, through the Pack Theater in Los Angeles every month. She's also on a house team at Finest City Improv in San Diego.
