Pavi Sharma, a 12 year old foster child, is happy with her latest placement. She runs a “business” helping other foster children get ready for their new families with techniques to help put them and their new foster families at ease. When five year old Meridee comes to the shelter, of course Pavi wants to help her. Pavi finds out that Meridee is going to Pavi’s first and most horrendous foster home and hatches a plan to keep her from going there. With the help of her foster brother Hamilton, his best friend Piper, and older foster kid Santos, she just might be able to do it.

I was given a free copy of this book from #netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Pavi Sharma is a foster kid, and she's learned the ropes the hard way. That's why she's started a consulting service that teaches foster kids how to make a perfect front door face, investigates the family prior to placement, and gives help in transferring important personal information when switching schools. When Pavi finds out a young foster girl is being placed in a bad home (one Pavi had been in before), Pavi knows she has to do something to stop the placement. Enter her foster brother and a crew of other misfits. The book is fun but tackles serious content in the process. Highly recommend.

Foster child Pavi Sharma has been in the system for awhile and has learned some survival skills along the way. For a fee of junk food and school supplies she helps other foster kids transition to new schools, get used to new families and perfect their “front door” face. She still has connections at the group home where she stayed for awhile and uses it as a source of information and new clients. While helping new client Santos, Pavi meets a young girl, Meridee and learns that Meridee is going to be placed in Pavi’s first foster home, where she was ignored and scared. She shares her worries with a former counselor who does not share her concerns. She assembles a team: her new brother, his best friend and Santos to gather evidence against Meridee’s foster family and safe her. This story is exciting and offers an understanding of the foster care system for middle grade readers.

Pavi is a foster kid who is running a small business helping other foster kids do better in their placements. She has a great foster mother and brother, and eventually, has to let them in to what she is doing, even though she is trying to be strong. And she is strong! And really smart, and aware. But sometimes, her emotions based on her past experiences are too big, even for her.

Not having experienced any of this myself, I did think the way Pavi described her feelings of kinship with other foster kids rang true. Her looking to the future also rang true. This isn't a happily ever after book but rather a happy for now book, because Pavi's life has some different twists and turns than kids growing up in their biological families. This book addressed many of those issues while still holding humor, friendship and emotional growth.

I have a few quibbles, one is that her foster mother is a teacher but we never hear about whether they knew each other before she was at the school. It does seem like foster kids in this area move schools a lot, based on some other kids, but it was a detail I would have liked addressed.

Pavi has been in several foster homes, as well as the Crossroads group home, ever since her mother became unable to care for her. Her foster mother is now Marjorie, a teacher, whose son Hamilton is Pavi's age and a good friend to her. Pavi has a "business" where she counsels other foster kids and does research on their families and new schools in exchange for school supplies. She is working with Santos, a new 8th grader. When she stops by Crossroads to try to get information from Lenny, one of the Crossroads workers, she sees a little girl, Meridee, and finds out that she is going to live with the Nickersons soon. That family was one of Pavi's placements, and she not only received inadequate care there, but she also saw dog fighting and lost a puppy in one of the fights. She takes it upon herself to try to get another placement for Meridee, having Santos (who has a deeper voice) call Child Protective Services, and coaching Meridee how to fake appendicitis when her case worker is taking her to the Nickersons. There's also her regular life to deal with-- school projects, dealing with Piper, Hamilton's friend, and keeping her grades up. Hamilton and Piper are working together on a series of makeup videos that are very popular, and this gives Pavi the idea to film the Nickersons and use the tape to keep Meridee out of their home. This is an elaborate project, but one that doesn't work. Luckily, things end fairly well both Santos, Meridee and even Pavi herself.

Strengths: With the growing number of children in foster care due to the opioid epidemic, it's not surprising that we are finally starting to see foster children as main characters in books. Pavi's story is interesting because she has such a good rapport with her foster brother, and she has regular contact with other foster children, especially at the group home. She has some keep insights on how to get along with families, making good impressions, and dealing with people who don't know what to say when they find out she is in foster care. Her concern for Santos and Meridee is touching.
Weaknesses: I had trouble believing that she would be able to conduct her business, and it made the story slightly less believable to me. The ending with the Nickersons was nice, but a little too convenient. I also wish we had just been told why Pavi's mother couldn't take care of her at the beginning of the book; I think this is a big concern for readers unfamiliar with foster care, as they might not readily grasp the concept of why children are placed into the system.
What I really think: This was an engaging story with likable characters, so I will probably purchase, but am concerned that some readers might be a little confused by some aspect of the story telling. I did appreciate that the author tried to work more humor into the story, which will definitely gain it more readers.