Reminiscent of Thirteen Little Blue Envelopes and P.S. I Love You, this book is bittersweet and sweet and bitter.

Thank you Netgalley and publisher for an e-ARC in exchanged for an honest review.

Oh this book tugged on my heart strings! I love how it is told by Joy and Lukas as alternating chapters. After Joy loses her best friend, she decides to try to go through with their traditional birthday clue hunt. Amazing, even after one year, she finds the first clue. I love how authentic the scavenger hunt was weaved throughout the story as you see so many true emotions from both main characters. It was such an emotional rollercoaster and I loved reading this story! Even though it is middle-grade, it would definitely be for higher middle-grade students. I would highly recommend this read!

"When you've lost what matters most, how do you find your way back home?"

Joy and Lukas have been best friends since the last day of 2nd grade when they discovered that not only were their birthdays just 2 days apart, but they also lived next to each other in the same apartment building. Today is Joy's 13th birthday, a day all kids look forward to, but Joy is dreading it because last year on her birthday Lukas died.

Seven Clues to Home provides readers with alternating view points from Joy and Lukas. Joy tells of her journey with Lukas 12th birthday scavenger hunt on her 13th birthday and Lukas tells the reader about the steps he creates to giving Joy the best scavenger hunt for her birthday that he can imagine.

This is a beautifully written book that is hard to put down. Joy's journey back to home will both warm and break your heart.

This was a very cute and heartwarming middle grade novel. Joy's best friend Lukas has been gone for a year when she decides to follow the clues to the birthday scavenger hunt he left for her. Told in alternate perspectives, we see her follow the clues now and him when he left them last year. This novel deals with tough issues kids this age face: broken homes, death, grief, and first love. The only issue I had at the end was how vague they were about what actually happened to Lukas. I understand many details couldn't be given considering the age the story is for, but more of an explanation was needed. All in all, I really enjoyed this story and would recommend it for kids aged 10-14.

SUCH A CUTE STORY!!! It deals with heavy themes in a way that will make your heart feel happy and hurt all at the same time. I would recommend this to anyone.

Joy and Lukas have been linked by a friendship of inside jokes, scavenger hunts, and adventures around town. How can Joy’s 13th birthday be joyful while dealing with the grief of losing Lukas a year ago?

I loved the alternating POVs, Lukas’ grappling with feelings as a preteen, and the authentic sway of emotions as Joy attempts to complete the scavenger hunt. I wish the story were longer, the plot slowed down toward the end, and more lose ends were tied in Lukas’ part of the story. Thank you Netgalley for the ARC!

This was an incredible book of friendship and love, grief and growing. Told in alternating points of view at different time, the two main characters lead us on a scavenger hunt adventure. Read to find out what happens!

From the beginning, we know that Joy’s best friend Lukas is dead, or at least gone, and he has been gone for a year. Joy is sad because it’s her birthday and she misses their traditional birthday scavenger hunt. But he left her a note the year before and it was never opened. It is the beginning to the last scavenger hunt. Joy follows the clues and finds some closure.

The book alternates between Joy now and Lukas a year am ago, placing the clues and thinking about his relationship with Joy. Does he want to tell her he loves her? He goes through a lot to place the clues. Both literally and mentally, we learn about his family

The end is truly a tear jerker in the best way. I felt so much like this was a middle grade version of a romance novel, without a true HEA. Definitely a book to hand to readers who love a good cry

In a day and age where children are more frequently forced to deal with personal loss, this book is a treasure. Written beautifully from both sides of a precious friendship, readers are taken on the journey through two time periods - one where a friendship is built and celebrated, and another where it is grieved but appreciated. Joy and Lukas are artfully crafted characters, developed to allow each reader to connect and become emotionally invested in the story. As the events unfold, clue by clue, we get to feel the exquisite joy and the profound devastation that can only come from real childhood friendships. The clever telling of the story from two sides of a thoughtfully-designed scavenger hunt adds to the reader's experience - remembering and celebrating a connection that can't be cut, even by death.
This book is a beautiful expression of acceptance and hope; an absolute must-read for any middle-grader that has been faced with grieving loss or learning to value the bonds of true friendship.

I received Seven Clues to Home by Gae Polisner and Nora Raleigh Baskin as an ARC from NetGalley. Seven Clues is a sweet young adult novel. Joy Fonseca's 13th birthday is coming up but it's also the one year anniversary of the death of her best friend, Lukas. They became best friends in 2nd grade after they find out that their birthdays are one year apart. Lukas creates a scavenger hunt every year for Joy's birthday but she couldn't bring herself to open it after his death the previous year. So on her 13th birthday she decides to open it and find the seven clues that Lukas left for her. The book tells the story of their friendship in alternating chapters. I enjoyed reading about the development of their friendship and the closeness they shared. I highly recommend for young adults or advanced middle grade readers.

This was such a great middle grade novel. I enjoyed every second of reading it. It’s always tough to deal with such a real subject and do it in a way that’s understandable and makes you feel.
I loved the alternative chapters. Reading from both perspective was an excellent way to have you relate to each of the characters. I definitely teared up a lot while reading the now chapters because I got so much back story in the alternating chapters.
I am excited to read more by these authors, they have a wonderful writing dynamic. It was a nice, quick, moving read that I enjoyed so much.

What an emotional ride. I don't know that I was emotionally prepared to read this when I did. I do think some of my students (5thgrade) will find this book too complex in light of their current struggles of life, but I do think some of my more mature readers will enjoy this beautiful story of friendship and loss.

I received an advance copy. All thoughts are my own.

This was so cute, and meaningful and heartfelt. I love Middle Grade novels and the alternating time lines were such a fun touch!

A beautiful coming of age novel that makes you fall in love and tears your heart our. You know you shouldn't fall in love with Lukas he is dead the whole time, but you can't help yourself. It is all part of the journey.

A heartbreaking beautiful book. SEVEN CLUES TO HOME is the story of best-friends Lukas and Joy, told in alternating perspectives 366 days apart from each other. 366 days after Lukas died in a terrible accident. On her birthday a year later, Joy finds the clues Lukas left for her, and goes on the scavenger hunt to try and see the final gift he left her.

It's always hard saying goodbye to people you love. It's even harder when you never get to say goodbye. This was a quick read for me, but an important one about grief and love, and childhood innocence. I really enjoyed reading this one.

Such a sweet read. Really enjoyed this one.


Many thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for my ARC. All opinions are my own.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me an ARC of this book to read! This was a very sort of bittersweet book. I frequently found myself with a lump in my throat as I read. From the synopsis I knew it would be somewhat sad, because it covers one girl dealing with the grief of losing her best friend. However, I was not prepared for the way the chapters alternated the present and past, and perspectives of both Joy and Lukas. It makes it all the more heart-wrenching to see from both sides how very much they cared for each other. The only slight disconnect for me was that sometimes the narrative voice felt a little bit older to me than 12-13 years old. That may be due to the life experience of each character, making them mature a bit faster than normal, but the first couple of chapters in I had to double check that I was reading about 12-13 year olds and not 16 year olds. Otherwise, the book is a quick, poignant read and I highly recommend it.

This is a beautiful middle grade book about friendship and I loved it. You know going in that it is going to be a heartbreaker and it was! I loved the scavenger hunt aspect of the story. It was told in two perspectives. Luka's as he sets up the scavenger hunt the year before and Joy's journey a whole year later to complete the hunt. This was a great way to tell this story. Although this a middle grade book I think that all ages will enjoy and find meaning in the story!

Incredible story of friendship. Clues along the way will keep readers glued to the pages, eager to solve the mystery.

My daughter read this after me and loved it just as much as I did. Joy is turning 13 and still morning the loss of her best friend Lukas. Each year on her birthday they would always do a scavenger hunt and lukas made sure that this year would be no different. This is such a tender look at young friendship. I remember how important my friends were when I was that age and the innocent between boy/girl friendships. Lukas as you will seen truly adores Joy.

This is such a beautiful, tender story and I loved every page of it.

Thank you so much to the publishers, the authors and NetGalley for the ARC.