Meg Grehan

I loved that this book is such a gentle questioning -- Stevie is at the beginning of her journey into figuring out that she has a crush on a girl, and it's totally age appropriate for kids. It's short, it's in verse -- both really accessible features. It also deals with anxiety and abandonment (her father has left and her mother is her sole parent) -- these are huge issues for LGBTQ kids, and Stevie has real concerns when her mother does not seem receptive to the idea of liking girls. It does a great job of calling out the kinds of messages that kids get every day from their parents -- sometimes inadvertently, sometimes not -- assumptions about marrying boys, assumptions about body image -- there's a lot that kids take in.… (more)

I discovered Meg Grehan when I read her middle-grade novel in verse, The Deepest Breath. I liked it so much, that I wanted to read more of her work. The Space Between is equally well-written. I love how Meg uses single word lines to emphasize points or feelings (as in the "Family" chapter that I copied into Common Knowledge). Beth is slowly pulled from her depression by Mouse, a happy canine and his compassionate companion, Alice. Over the course of a year, we sympathize with Beth's suffering and rejoice at her opening.… (more)