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Dad's Girlfriend and Other Anxieties

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A fun, insightful, and heartfelt story about Ava, a girl with anxiety who's trying to stave off big changes that may come from her dad's deepening relationship with his girlfriend. When he springs a Colorado mountain vacation on Ava with his girlfriend and her daughter, Ava is beset with anxiety and embarks on a quest to sabotage the trip and the relationship. Kellye Crocker does a masterful job of putting the reader in Ava's mental space, showing her anxiety with empathy, humor, and nuance. A wonderful read that I highly recommend.

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With thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early copy in return for an honest review.

This is the story of Ava who travels to Colorado with her dad during the summer between elementary and middle school to meet her dad's new girlfriend. They head off to a wilderness resort and end up camping...which gives Ava lots of anxiety. Things do not go according to plan.

By the way, I went back and forth between being really frustrated with Ava's behavior (which I think middle school students will think perfectly fit the situation...like disabling the car!) and being frustrated with the dad for not being more understanding of Ava's anxiety.

Note: As an elementary teacher I personally wouldn't want to explain the situation Jenn finds herself in, so I would probably save this for upper MG (6th-8th grade readers)

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I want to thank NetGalley for giving me a digital copy of “Dad’s Girlfriend and Other Anxieties” to review.

This book follows a young girl during the summer between elementary and middle school as she takes a trip to Colorado with her dad, his new girlfriend, and the girlfriend’s daughter. She’s recently been diagnosed with an anxiety disorder and she’s not looking forward to anything Colorado has in store for her.

I was really excited to read this book. I’m a huge fan of middle grade novels especially ones that focus on disability. However, I have to say that there were multiple parts of this book that just fell short for me. I enjoyed most of the characters and felt that Crocker did a good job of creating varying dynamics, but the actual writing wasn’t strong enough for my personal taste. I felt like there were moments where it was being simplified to fit the middle grade genre and it distracted from the intentions of the book.

I thought the pacing of this book was well done and the emotions were written with so much weight behind them. You could definitely step into the character’s shoes and feel how they were feeling.

Overall, I think that this was a cute book for kids who are struggling with anxiety and changing family dynamics, but it’s not a favorite of mine.

My CAWPILE score for this book was 7.0 which is equivalent to four stars.

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What a great Middle School book. It is well written where it encompasses what a typical 6th grader feels along with situations that a lot of them are going through. Friends changing as you get older, two families coming together, anxiety and much more.

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This book felt overdone in the sense that it was not especially believable or all that intriguing. Information about the setting was fun to read, but ,any of the situations felt contrived and overdone.

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This Review will include mild spoilers!

I requested „My Dad’s Girlfriend and other Anxieties“ because I really liked the idea of the story.
Ava has anxiety and that makes her life pretty hard some times. Her dad met someone new and wants Ava to meet her as well. They meet up in the terrifying Colorado, where nearly everything cann kill you. Ava tries to manage her anxiety and at the same time she tries to survive the mountains. But it’s all not as easy as she thought.

First the good things. I really liked to read about a young girl with anxiety and how she was portraied (at least most of the time) and that she spoke up for herself. Sadly it was only in the last chapter but at least she did it.
My favorite character was the Girlfriend, Jenn. She always tried to help everyone and make the trip as pleasent as possible even when everything went wrong. She also tried to understand what was going on with Ava even though she didn’t knew that Ava has anxiety. I think thats really odd because why didn’t told her Ava’s Dad, her boyfriend, about his daughters problems?

That’s also a huge thing that annoyed me in the story. Nobody, except for Ava’s Dad, knew that Ava has anxiety and nobody cared about her fears. If Jenn and Z, her daughter (very annoying and kind of ignorant), knew that Ava has anxiety, they would definetly would have acted different in a lot of situation.

My biggest problem in the book is the dad. He really just cared about everything but Ava and her anxiety. He knew from the beginning that she’s afraid oft he mountains but plans a week long stay in the mountains and didn’t wanted to tell her until they were in the mountains. I understand that he wanted a nice trip with his girlfriend and that they all get to know each other but he should have told Ava earlier about it. In the end the dad said that he cared about Ava and her feelings and that he worries too much sometimes but as a reader I don’t really believe it after seeing how he treated her.

I enjoyed the writing and the idea oft he story.

Thank you to NetGalley and Albert Whitman & Company for this E-ARC!

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I cannot recommend this book a enough for both educators and parents . Not only does it perfectly described what it feels for a young girl to have anxiety and lengths they'll go through to to avoid things feeling it. , It gives amazing tips on how to deal with one's own anxiety. A top of that it gives great ways to explain to others what anxiety truly is and how it feels like on the inside. Add in the conflict resolution between the characters it's a perfect book. As someone who had anxiety growing up that helped me so much and I know it can help children now

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This book does a great job of depicting what anxiety can look and feel like. Ava's struggles are something I'm sure all young people with anxiety disorders go through on a daily basis. In addition, having a character in therapy and not embarrassed to be getting help also sends sends strong message to young readers. I really liked that the author also slips in some strategies for dealing with anxiety. I'm not a "everyone should be medicated" person, but considering how much Ava's anxiety disrupted and took over her life I was surprised she wouldn't have been prescribed something, I also think having the character taking medication would have helped in lessening the stigma.

Now, for the actual story. I had planned to only read a few chapters but found I could not (and didn't want to) put it down. My heart went out to Ava so many times I lost count - and it broke a little for her every time she tried to talk with her dad and he blew her off. I didn't full on hate her father, but he was so frustrating! He doesn't give Ava a heads up about the trip to the mountains or how serious he was about Jenn. The author does a good job of showing the difficulties of parents of children with severe anxiety - they love them and want to support them, but they are also exhausted by the constant worrying and inability to just do simple activities. One of my favorite parts of the book was when Ava finally confronts her father about how he has been treating her by not telling her important things. You really get the sense that their relationship is moving in the right direction and things will work out. I also liked Ava's growing friendship with Z. They are different and yet have so much in common. Their heart-to-heart toward the end of the book was really sweet. And Jenn is really good with Ava - she tries to create a connection but doesn't overdo it.

Overall, this is a great book. I highly recommend it to teachers and Librarians for classroom and school libraries. I also think it's a great book for parents of children with anxiety, it may give them some further insight into what their child might be going through.

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This review is based on an ARC

Ava has anxiety and panic attacks. When she has to go to Colorado to meet her father's girlfriend and her daughter, her anxieties come to the head, it's different than Iowa, and everything, from the Mountains to the cute ground squirrels might be dangerous. Ava needs to protect herself, her father, and her new friends from those dangers...even if it isn't what they want.

This is probably one of the best examples of an anxiety disorder in children's fiction I've seen. Ava's inner monologue and her rationales for eveey step she takes is clear to the reader, but the costs to those around her and that these are her acting on her anxiety is clear. It makes her a sympathetic protagonist and puts the reader in the position of both being frustrated with her and understanding her. I also like that there isn't a clear, magical solution, which, again, is true.

This is a wonderful book for kids understanding anxiety in themselves and others, and is an excellent addition to libraries and public collections.

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Will be a great title for students who deal with anxiety. Also relatable to students whose families are blending.

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I found this story to be a bit of a slow starter. It is one of many new works about children with anxiety disorders, although it quickly shifts focus to the challenges of parental dating and would-be blended families. Elements of The Parent Trap are occasionally in play. Personally I found Jenn/The Girlfriend to be the most compelling character and the one that really brought the novel together.

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Dad's Girlfriend and Other Anxieties was a fun read but it also was much deeper (in a good way) than I anticipated it would! Kellye Crocker did a great job developing her characters - Ava's struggles with figuring out strategies that work for her anxiety and overcoming her worries (while balancing a big change with the intro of both dad's girlfriend AND her daughter) will resonate with readers. Z, the girlfriend's daughter, has an outgoing, adventurous personality that seems to be the polar opposite of Ava's but also has her own struggles with what she wants from her relationship with her father. Dad and the Girlfriend are both likeable characters trying to figure it all out and make it all work - but making mistakes along the way. I thought the focus on these four characters and what they brought to the story really made this read a fun one for middle grades.

Ava makes some pretty big mistakes in her struggles to solve the challenges her anxiety brings forward, but the problem solving and love throughout the book are great - and her responses are very typical for kids her age. Overall, I think that middle grade readers will really enjoy this book and find glimpses of themselves in it!

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When I first started reading this I thought it would be just a silly kids book but I actually related to it much more than I thought I would. I've never experienced my parents not being together or one of my parents getting in a new relationship but I still could see myself in Ava. I really related to her dad acting like her panic attack was just her being dramatic and calling it a fuss. Unless you have one, I'm sure it's hard to understand how serious and scary a panic attack is. They are terrifying.

I really liked the humor of this book and the characters were all really likable. A lot of kids can relate to the whole new girlfriend and new family situation and I think this can help kids deal with it. This is a middle grade book but I think any age can enjoy it.

Thank you Netgalley, the author, and publisher for allowing me to read this ARC for free. All opinions are my own.

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Oh I FELT this book! Kellye Crocker does a wonderful job putting the reader right into Ava's world, from the urgent anxiety to the emotional angst of dealing with her father's relationship, to the physical strain of running out of breath in the Colorado mountains. Aside from a few moments where Ava's anxiety resolves a bit too easily, her emotions felt real and powerful. Readers will enjoy the twists and turns of Ava's and Z's adventures and connect with the struggles of complicated parent dynamics. DAD'S GIRLFRIEND AND OTHER ANXIETIES is a compelling, emotional, and satisfying read.

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Ava’s dad went to Colorado and found a girlfriend, and now he and Ava are going them to see them and Ava is not happy. Since being diagnosed with anxiety disorder, Ava likes her life sweet and simple. Ava is extremely worried about the Colorado mountains, hiking, the animals and so on. After she meets Jenn and her daughter Z, who is very talkative and energetic, Ava hides out in the bathroom where she discovers a possible secret. When Ava finds out they are going to the mountains for ten days, she fakes being sick and cancels their reservations. They all end up going, and Ava lies and pranks them. It makes her happy to do it, but she feels rotten. This isn’t her. Will anything change to make her happy again? Should she divulge the secret?

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A heartwarming and fun adventure about growing up!

This book had me laughing out loud, tearing up, and filled my heart with warmth all within the same night. That’s because I read the whole thing in almost a night, it was SO GOOD!

Ava is such a relatable character to anyone who’s struggled with self-doubt, fears, and anxiety. Her journey throughout the book is nothing short of inspiring, to readers of all backgrounds! And don’t get me started on Z, who has an equally compelling story. All the characters are well developed and unique, and reading this book felt like taking a trip to Colorado myself.

I can’t say enough good things about DAD’S GIRLFRIEND AND OTHER ANXIETIES, but know that you won’t regret reading this book!!!

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