Ginny Off the Map
Eleven-year-old Ginny’s dad is an army doctor. Ginny (white) and her older sister, Allie, are blindsided when they learn his posting to Afghanistan in the new year has been changed; he leaves shortly after their expected move from North Carolina to Maryland at the end of the school year. Allie, who is gifted athletically and makes friends easily, is out playing with kids in their new neighborhood right away. Ginny, who is gifted academically but struggles socially, isn’t. Passionate about maps, she’s upset when a geography summer camp at the nearby community center is cancelled, and her efforts to engage the neighborhood kids in her interests fail. Ginny’s dad, who understands her best, video calls when he can, but not as often as any of them want. With their mom focused on a new job, and Allie and Ginny at odds, tensions in their house are high. As the family faces an additional unexpected challenge around the deployment, Ginny and Allie’s relationship, and their individual struggles with the move and missing their dad, turn a corner as everyone in the family learns to be more honest, open, understanding, and supportive of one another. Believable characters ground this engaging book set in 2015 illuminating some of the challenges unique to military families, as well as challenges many families can understand. Smaller subplots involving the diverse kids in the neighborhood and Ginny’s expectations around school all further enrich this inviting, welcome story featuring a likely neurodivergent main character in Ginny. ©2023 Cooperative Children’s Book Center
Illustrated by Kelly Murphy
CCBC Age Recommendation: Ages 8-12
Age Range:
Grades 3-5 (Ages 8-10)
Grades 6-8 (Ages 11-13)
Format:
Novel
Subjects:
Arguments/Conflict
Families
Maps and Geography
Moving
Soldiers/Military
Diversity subject:
Cognitive/Neurological Disability/Condition
Publishers:
Christy Ottaviano Books, Little, Brown
Publish Year: 2023
Pages: 304
ISBN: 9780316324625
CCBC Location: Fiction, Hickey