Kirkus
Copyright © Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Best friends forever, Sara Smith and Nadine Ando navigate the end of a friendship when Nadine skips a grade and Sara is left behind.Sara Smith is a biracial (half-white, half-Korean) seventh-grader in her final year of middle school. She and Nadine (who is also biracial, half-white, half-Japanese) have been inseparable for years. Cul-de-sac neighbors in a suburb of Vancouver since childhood, the girls have never considered separation before. They are two halves of the same person. Sara often reflects on the differences between the races of their parents and describes how this affects family life. In Sara's family, her mother is Korean; in Nadine's, her mother is white. The pain of possibly losing her trusted sidekick creates strong emotions as the school year begins, which leads to regrettable behavior. The girls' younger siblings play significant roles, and there's a subplot of a missing classmate. As the school year progresses, Sara's internal dialogue gradually awakens emotional truth and personal growth as she learns from her mistakes. Occasionally, author Kim's descriptiveness wanders past typical narration, serving more as a witness for readers rather than helping them emotionally experience the moment. In the end, Sara is wistful, recognizing the place her childhood best friend will always have in her life.Readers get a ringside seat to the rite of passage of feeling true sadness for the first time in this story for readers readying to move up to YA. (Fiction. 10-14) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

School Library Journal
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Gr 5-8-Sara and Nadine have been inseparable since the age of one, when they both moved to a cul-de-sac in the brand-new suburb of Surrey, Canada. Now 12 and about to start seventh grade, Sara's idyllic childhood is shattered when Nadine skips ahead to high school and leaves Sara to complete her final year of primary school alone. Sara spirals into depression, jealousy, and anger as she struggles to regain her lost friendship and discover who she is without the person who defined her the most. Written in limited first-person point of view, the book reads more like a progression of impressionistic and emotionally charged vignettes than a traditional linear novel. The stream-of-consciousness flashbacks to Sara's early childhood that pepper the narrative lend an oddly dreamy, nostalgic tone to the work. Due to this style, the pacing is inconsistent and the plot is underdeveloped. The novel relies heavily on Sara's angst for her lost friend and her ensuing interactions with Jen, Nadine's little sister. Other subplots are brought up quickly and resolved too conveniently or dismissed with a life-goes-on resolution. Many of these threads, including the disappearance of a neighborhood boy and sexual harassment and stalking by a classmate, are disturbing and need more attention than they are given. A highlight of the novel, however, is Sara's strong relationship to her family and her Korean heritage. The book may find an audience in mature middle grade readers who enjoy emotionally driven, slice-of-life fare. VERDICT Purchase where nostalgic, realistic reads are popular with students.-Bridgid Gallagher-Sauter, The Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County © Copyright 2018. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Horn Book
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Across-the-street Vancouver neighbors Sara (half-white, half-Korean) and Nadine (half-white, half-Japanese) have always been together--but then Nadine skips a grade and heads to high school, leaving her best friend behind. First-person, present-tense narration sympathetically evokes Sara's convincingly complicated feelings of confusion, grief, and anger during this year of upheaval. Debut author Kim's introspective story of moving from childhood to adolescence has a bygone and memoiristic sensibility. (c) Copyright 2018. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Book list
From Booklist, Copyright © American Library Association. Used with permission.

In this appealing Canadian debut set during the Gulf War, Sara, almost 12, is devastated when her best friend, Nadine, waits until school starts to tell her she's skipping a grade, leaving Sara behind. Sara schemes to maintain their friendship, enlisting Nadine's help in a search for Sara's brother's missing baseball teammate. But Nadine increasingly ignores her, and Sara stops studying and starts hanging out with a girl she used to dislike. Nadine's sister, Jen, also rejects Sara for not pulling her weight in the science project they're doing together. Stung, Sara lashes out at everyone and rashly runs away. Both Sara and Nadine are biracial Sara's half Korean, and Nadine's half Japanese. The novel is full of familiar middle-grade experiences, like school dances, secret crushes, and amusingly awkward advice by Sara's Korean mom. The plot can be predictable at times, but Sara's feelings of betrayal and confusion ring true. She learns a valuable lesson that, though friendships evolve and change is inevitable, she's resilient and unbreakable.--Rawlins, Sharon Copyright 2018 Booklist

Publishers Weekly
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Sara and Nadine have been best friends as well as neighbors in their Vancouver suburb for most of their lives. Sara is sure they will always be close, but her dreams for a perfect new school year are shattered when Nadine reveals she is skipping a grade and heading to high school, something she has kept from Sara. At the same time, Daniel, a boy who plays baseball with Sara's brother, goes missing. As the community reels, Sara is determined to help find Daniel, a quest she hopes will keep her close to Nadine. But both girls are changing and growing apart; Sara hangs out with Jen, Nadine's sister, which makes Nadine pull away more. Kim fills this honest coming-of-age story with small yet treasured memories from Sara and Nadine's friendship, conveying the depth of their connection and the uncertainty that change brings. Both girls are biracial; Nadine is half white, half Japanese, and Sara's Korean identity is a particularly well-integrated part of the story. Kim's debut deftly explores the complexities of friendship and growing up, as well as the satisfaction that comes through self-discovery. Ages 10-up. Agent: Sam Hiyate, Rights Factory. (Apr.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.