Tuesday, July 21, 2020

Itch by Polly Farquhar - OPTIONAL

Itch by Polly Farquhar, 280 pages. Holiday House, 2020. $18.

Content G


BUYING ADVISORY: EL, MS – OPTIONAL


AUDIENCE APPEAL:  AVERAGE


Isaac’s sixth grade year is off to a rough start.  Set in rural Ohio, Isaac still feels like an outsider to his college football crazed town and tries to fit in, even when a tornado blows the roof off the cafeteria.  It doesn’t help that he has idiopathic angioedema that makes him scratch uncontrollably, so the kids as school call him Itch.  Isaac’s best friend, Sydney, has life threatening food allergies that are triggered because of Isaac’s actions.  When Isaac is blamed, he has to decide what lengths he will go to in order to have friends.


For anyone going through angst in sixth grade, this beautifully captures elementary life and the decisions that define us.  Isaac’s medical condition, paired with the food allergies of his friends, help remind us that navigating life isn’t always easy, while shining light on the seriousness of food allergies.  However, there isn’t a lot of action, and it almost seems like an episode of Sienfield where not enough happens.


Michelle in the Middle


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