Thank you NetGalley and Random House Children’s for this eARC.

I can definitely see that tweens will enjoy this cute book.

I have never been the new kid and had a less than great father-daughter relationship. I struggled to relate to Amelia.

Four stars. I won’t let my issues darken a well written story.

What a refreshing story, yet full of depth. Amelia Gray is a profound character I will not forget. Will recommend.

What an interesting read! Amelia Gray has seen the whole country. She has never stayed in one place for long and that’s how she likes it. All she needs is her dad and her dog, Biscotti, but what happens when her dad decides they should try life on the stay. Amelia is terrified, and so she decides to reinvent herself, 3 different Amelias for 3 different activities. She’s determined to figure out who she is: Amie, the confident tract star, Mellie, a serious journalist, or Lia, a bold theater kid? But as she goes along with her lies, she begins to get caught up in a whole web of trouble without answering the question: Who is Amelia Gray?
Okay, Amelia has gone through a lot. She just wants things to stay the same. I think kids will really identify with her as she tries to figure herself out. In middle school, all you want to know is who am I? And I love the message that this book gives which is you don’t need to have it all figured out. Amelia wants to know the one thing that defines her, and in the end, she sees she doesn't need to choose one thing. But it takes a lot of heartache to see that.
And I think that goes into the next main thing which is friendship is hard. And I loved seeing that because it is hard to make friends and keep friends, and I loved watching Amelia learn how to reconcile with her friends and rebuild bridges. While I love all the messages in this book, I had a hard time staying invested. I think it felt a little young in some places, and I wasn’t super into the story.
But I think I would still recommend it to middle graders especially those who love contemporary fiction.
Highlights:
Importance of making friends
Light romance only
Strong relationship with dad
Traditional values
Importance of communication
Realizing you don’t need to have everything figured out yet

I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book which I received from the publisher through Netgalley. All views expressed are only my honest opinion, a positive review was not required.

I almost didn't finish this. I so didn't care about what Amelia Gray did with her life. All her gripping was getting to me through the first half of the book, and if not for her plans all falling apart, I think we would have had winning through the rest of the book as well.

And the side plot, of a theatre that was torn down, to be replaced with something mysterieous, made no sense, in the end.

And the ending seemed very quick and neat.

The basic plot of that Amelia has no friends, because she moves constantly, because of her father's job, he renovates hotels. He decides, he says, that he is going to stop moving for the summer, because he has been approached to do a large hotel, so she should do something interesting with her days.

So, what does she do? She creates three different identities, to see if one of them sticks. A student reporter, a sprinter and an actor. Since I didn't care about her before, I cared even less that she was three people.

It gets three stars because she becomes friends with Finn about the middle of the book, and all her plans fall apart soon after.



<em>Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.</em>

This book was SO GOOD!! I personally love this author so I was really excited to read it. And it exceeded my expectations!! It was so creative and original, but at the same time relatable. Amelia didn´t really know what her thing was so she tried to be someone else to find out, which is something I think lots of people can relate to. I loved the little ¨triangle of hate¨ between the three girls she had been hanging out with. I mean, what are the chances of that? I also really loved the idea of her dad being a hotel remodeler. I thought that was so cool! And the story just came together perfectly. I couldn´t have asked for a better ending. So, clearly, this was an amazing book and I would definitly recommend it to anyone who likes to read. Or anyone who doesn´t!

Amelia and her father move all over the US, and rarely stay in one place for more than a month. She has a mixed breed dog named Biscotti, and wants desperately to know what mix of breeds he is. Her father "reinvents" struggling hotels, designing rooms, doing renovations, and generally helps the owner be prepared to improve business. Amelia has attended public schools, but it's hard to make connections when you are only in a place for four weeks. The newest project is a hotel in Summerville, New York. The owner, Annabelle, inherited the property from her father, and tried to run it while she was also running a historic theater in town. Neither venture was successful. She lost the hotel, and it was torn down, and a new and mysterious building is being built in its place. Amelia has always been happy to move and to live "life on the go" with her father, and is dismayed when she hears him discussing their lifestyle with Annabelle. Amelia's mother died when she was born, and she isn't sad for what she never had, so she's a bit angry that her father is thinking of changing things without asking her. Is he dating Annabelle? He also tells Amelia she has to do an activity over the summer so she can get out and meet other kids her age. Amelia still doesn't know what her "thing" is, although she's sure (after a disastrous elementary school event) that it isn't theater. She decides that she will try three different personalities out, in the same way that her father tries out room designs. She's Amie, who loves track, Mellie, who does investigative journalism, and Lia, who does theater with Annabelle. Thanks to the assortment of costumes left over from the theater that Annabelle lets her borrow, she is able to pull off these three identities. She makes friends in each area, including Esme in track and Katarina, who writes for the local paper. Since everyone in the small town hangs out at the Float and Boat ice cream parlor, there are some close calls, but she manages to keep up the ruse for most of the summer. She does tell the truth to Finn, whom she meets in the dog park, and whose "thing" is drawing comics and hanging out with his rescue dog, Ketchup. When Katarina and Amelia uncover a story about the theater and the building project that links it to Esme's parents, the town is in an uproar. At the same time, Amelia's father is ready to give up on trying to make Annabelle happy with his designs, and decides to pack up and move along. Amelia, who visited the house her father was interested in buying and is finding connecting with other kids her own age rather enjoyable, isn't sure that this is the best plan for the two of them. Will they return to Summerville, or continue their life on the go?
Strengths: Books about personal identity are always a huge hit with my students, who are themselves trying to figure out who they are and what they want to do. I loved that Amelia's choices included the sorts of things I encourage my students to do every summer: something physical, something academic, and something creative! While Amelia starts out being a little irritated with her father, she hasn't complained about her life or spent a lot of time mourning the mother she never had, and she takes to Summerville pretty well. Young readers need more examples of characters who are flexible and willing to adapt rather than ones who are dead set against any changes in their lives. This was fast paced and fun, and filled with interesting characters. I liked the twist at the end with the building project, and loved how Amelia's father got involved and made things better for the community. Like Wientge's Best Friends, Bikinis, and Other Summer Catastrophes, this is a great middle grade book with a fun summer adventure.
Weaknesses: In a town as small as Summerville, clip on bangs are not going to make Amelia unrecognizable to Katarina, and I found it hard to believe that she was able to keep up the ruse for so long.
What I really think: Since Kimmel's The Reinvention of Moxie Roosevelt was published about the time that Amelia was born, I guess we can use another middle great tale of inventing multiple personalities. While I feel that this idea of trying to be different people might have several different iterations, it's still a fun read, and will be very popular with my students.

This was a really well done children's novel, it deals with topics that works for children and young adults. It had what I enjoyed from Jessica Brody's writing style. It had a great plot going on and I enjoyed getting to know the characters within this world. I was invested in what was going on and enjoyed reading this a lot.

"The woman in the photographs looks so different from the girl I found in the yearbook the other day. Her face has changed, her hair has changed, and she’s no longer wearing that awful sweater. But now, when I stare into her eyes, those two words keep tumbling around in my head. Musical theatre. My phone beeps with a text message."

I absolutely loved this book! Amelia is such as fun character and I loved watching her become different versions of herself to figure out who she is.
I loved seeing her make friends with Finn, Katerina, Esme & Maren. All such wonderful side characters too!
The hotel renovations are described so well and are easy to picture in my mind.
The relationship she has with her dad is a good one too, they have a bit of a crazy summer, but learn to lean on each other even more. And I liked that she learns more about her mom along the way.
Summerville is such a quaint town, that I would love to visit. I can picture the park and all the places Amelia visits during the summer.
I would totally read more books with these characters, I loved them so much!!

Thanks NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC!