Everything I Know

Gr 6 Up–Mila is autistic. She can tell you everything she knows about her school’s layout, locker, classes, and friend Chris. When her family decides to move to Boston for her dad’s job, Mila’s world gets turned upside down. She has a hard time relating to people. Her new school is noisy, but she’s worried she’ll be made fun of for wearing headphones. Can she learn to fit in and adjust to her new life? The author’s writing style is simple and engaging in this story told in verse. The characters are relatable and experience growth. Character dynamics feel slightly stifled at the start of the story but feel more natural towards the end, which plays into the development of the characters’ arcs. Layout is dyslexic-friendly with heavy bottom fonts, letter spacing, and white space. Secondary characters’ backgrounds are unknown, but Mia and her family cue as Latinx. The book is written at a second to third grade reading level.