Joy McCullough has crafted an excellent MG title with characters that young readers will relate to and enjoy. A moving and engaging exploration of family dynamics and new friendship, I highly recommend A Field Guide to Getting Lost.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atheneum Books for Young Readers for sending me a free ARC copy in exchange for an honest review.

A Field Guide To Getting Lost is a charming and humorous middle grade story about unlikely friends and navigating your way through life’s difficulties.

McCullough does a wonderful job of creating likable, realistic characters while tackling an ambitious range of subjects. I particularly enjoyed the little bits of humor throughout the story and how honestly McCullough portrayed some difficult topics without overwhelming the reader. Some of the many subjects and topics covered in A Field Guide To Getting Lost are: science (coding, robots, the scientific method, and scientific theory), environmentalism and climate change (and penguins!), writing and the creative process, extreme food allergies, divorced parents, coparenting, dealing with change, dealing with frustration (concerning projects and things out of your control, like single parents dating other people), and difficulties with social interactions and making friends.

Thank you again to NetGalley and Atheneum Books for Young Readers for the privilege of reviewing an ARC.

I received a complimentary copy of A Field Guide to Getting Lost from NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

TOO CUTE! This was a very short but also very heartwarming novel. Two very different children learn to get along for the sake of others. These characters were very believable and their interactions extremely realistic. My only wish is that the book had been longer!

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.

The only problem with this book is that I can't hand it to both of my kids right now! I love how we are introduced to Sutton and Luis and see how their worlds exist alongside each other. I love Sutton's set of neighbors in her apartment building -- i felt like i knew all of them.

And Luis! I have a daughter with a nut allergy and I know she gets frustrated with our protectiveness sometimes and also likes to know we are keeping her safe at others so Luis felt perfect to me!

This is a fabulous book that I cannot wait to share with my kids (8 and 11) i know they will love it

I really enjoyed A Field Guide to Getting Lost. Thanks to Netgally and the publisher for letting me read an advance copy! I will definitely recommend, and purchase a copy of this book for my elementary students. Sutton and Luis are great characters who really come live in this story. It is a wonderful book about unlikely friends and finding your way.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an eARC of this book.

This is the author's debut middle grade book, but many will be familiar with her YA historical fiction novel in verse BLOOD WATER PAINT. In A FIELD GUIDE TO GETTING LOST, two kids (Sutton and Luis) are brought together because their parents are dating. Sutton loves science and robotics, and is struggling with the absence of her mom who is working in Antarctica. Luis is a writer who loves fantasies since his numerous allergies keep him from real life adventures. Though very different, Sutton and Luis need to try and find some common ground for their sake of their parents, until an unexpected outing leads them right to it.

I loved that this story is told from both Sutton and Luis' perspectives; not only are the chapters short, but the book itself is only 225 pages and will appeal to a wide range of readers. As a mom of a child with a food allergy, I really appreciated that severe allergies were addressed in a realistic fiction story, and would desperately like to see more stories that address this issue. I would love to see a sequel to this book, as I can't help but wonder what happens next in their lives. I look forward to reading more middle grade fiction from this author in the future.

Sutton and Luis meet when their parents start dating. They have nothing in common at all. Finding a way to get along or even maybe becoming friends (or step-siblings!) is a challenge. Sutton's mom is in Antarctica and is going to miss her 10th birthday and the robot she's working on. Luis is entirely different. Not sciencey at all. He writes stories about things he is afraid of (including dogs). They do begin to work together when they find themselves in a sticky situation. Funny, suspenseful, so sad at times, along with being filled with science and art and nature, Field Guide to Getting Lost is one of my favorite middle-grade books so far this year.

This was a charming and wonderfully crafted book about two kids--one who loves STEM and one who loves writing/fiction--and blended families and all the heartache and heartwarming content in between.