In this heart-warming middle grade novel, Zoe Richards, a new fourth grader at West End Elementary, learns a lot about herself and her classmates when they’re all assigned an autobiography project. While pondering what she will share about herself, Zoe befriends a fellow classmate, Joshua, who eats lunch alone and is considered weird and hard to deal with at times—at least according to her friend Victoria—due to having autism. With the help of her neighbor, Felix, Zoe puts in the time and care to learn about Joshua and autism, and she and Joshua become closer. Through Zoe’s empathetic story, readers will get to meet Joshua, to, and learn about his boundaries and the way he sees the world.

Stauffer approaches the topic of being an outsider amongst peers with sensitivity and insight through the inviting figures of Joshua and Zoe, a new student distinguished by her compassionate spirit and inquisitive nature. Set in 2006, Meet Zoe Richards pulses with an undercurrent of nostalgia for a simpler time before social media upended young lives and relationship dynamics. For her autobiography project, Zoe reviews old VHS tapes of her childhood and learns the valuable lesson—still resonate today—that time stands still for no one. Zoe comes to terms with missing her old home and neighborhood, while adjusting and finding new ways to enjoy her current home and school life.

Filled with themes of family, friendship, and diversity, this story will touch the hearts of young readers with real world situations such as learning disabilities, the complexity that comes with growing older, and facing school bullies. Meet Zoe Richards is a feel-good children's story that will teach middle grade readers empathy, compassion, and the realistic nature of what Zoe herself identifies as the "bittersweet transition" into adulthood. “I thought growing meant getting bigger and stronger. Instead, I feel like the world is getting smaller, and I’m just getting old,” she declares, the words sure to strike older readers, too.

Takeaway: Touching story of friendships among outsiders and facing adulthood.

Comparable Titles: Meg Eden Kuyatt's Good Different, Kereen Getten's When Life Gives You Mangos.

Production grades
Cover: B
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: B
Editing: A
Marketing copy: A