Joey the Good centers around Joey, a kid who is no stranger to change, but that change has been difficult. With the loss of his nonno two years prior and his best friend's recent diagnosis with diabetes, he's been feeling a bit left behind. Xander has now joined the cross-country team and wants to spend less time inside watching soccer with Joey and eating his Nonna's Italian cuisine, and Joey just isn't quite sure how to feel about it all. So when LEo, his cousin, comes to live with his family for the summer AND asks Joey to train with him to climb Mount Whitney, Joey is about at his limit. Joey is an incredibly self-conscious main character, and honestly, I think I was the same at his age. Middle school is HARD, and even harder when you're trying to grapple with life. He spends a lot of the book lacking self-confidence and feeling quite sorry for himself, which, as an adult, I can completely sympathize with, but I can imagine that some young readers may feel a bit fed up with his disparaging thoughts. Also, spending a large part of my middle school years in New Jersey and New York, I was a bit pained by the overuse of Italian metaphors. That being said, the character development was wonderful, and this is an impactful story, and getting to see Leo and Joey slowly open up to each other about their thoughts and feelings was sweet.

2 years ago, Joey’s Nonna died while on a fishing trip with his older cousin, Leo. Now, Joey wants nothing more than to spend his summer watching soccer, cooking with his Nonna, and playing video games with his best friend. Leo’s sudden appearance to spend the entire summer with Joey and his family and his best friend spending more time with his new running team leaves Joey in a lurch. Leo (17) is insistent they hike Mount Whitney in honor of Nonna who wanted to make that hike. Joey is reluctant, but he agrees to go training with Leo when he notices that his cousin – super athletic and great at everything is struggling in odd ways. After a serious accident on a training hike, Joey learns that Leo has been diagnosed with early-onset relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis and has been kicked out his family’s home. Joey’s first person narration highlights the early issues he notices with Leo – shaking hands, weakened grips, muscle weakness – that happen to those with MS. Joey struggles with the issues with Leo – the hiking, the illness , with the chance of losing his best friend while making new ones, even some of the running team he wishes his friend would ditch a little more often to spend time with him, and his grief and shock over the loss of Nonno two years ago. This is an issue that both Joey and Leo face, each blaming themselves and having wanted to do more. All the characters - Joey, Leo, their family, the running team, the training hiking team – are all well fleshed out and individuals. The author is an avid hiker who hiked Mount Whitney and some of the other trails mentioned in the book and used a pair of sensitivity readers about MS.
As a side note, I have RRMS. No person with MS has the same symptoms. The disease doesn’t progress the same in each patient because it all depends on where the lesions form in the brain or spinal cord. There is a saying, you don’t know until you know, and that is reflected in this story as it shows Joey doesn’t understand what is happening with Leo and what he needs to do to help. My children, especially my son who helps take care of me, doesn’t always know or understand. That part of the story is very realistic and important as well as someone taking on the task of writing about MS in more than just a mention kind of way.

Erin Fry and Joey the Good are winners!
This middle grades novel handles many of the hard emotions and feelings of a typical middle grade kid, and Fry handles them all with grace. At times, I personally felt that Joey was a few years older than his almost 13 years, but it did not distract me from the heart of this great novel. Ever the funny fat friend, Joey learns so much about himself and his friends and family. Readers will empathize with Joey and his friends.

Readers will be caught up in the story of two cousins whose relationship changes drastically after the death of their grandfather. When Joey’s cousin suddenly shows up a couple years later and moves in, life changes significantly. His cousin’s diagnosis guilts him into obliging him in a hike, but things don’t go as planned.

Joey was so frustrating at the beginning of the story but it made his character more real as more of his past was introduced. It also made the relationships with his friends, cousin, and family as the story continued. I really enjoyed the development of how he became more reflective and aware and started to recognize how his point of view wasn't the only perspective.

The story itself is fine, even tender and sweet, but the ongoing subtle and not so subtle fatphobia was hard to get through. I think that the author would probably say that she was actively trying to be inclusive by depicting an overweight athlete/hiker, but the negative descriptors of overweight bodies and the number of characters whose lives magically get better when they lose some weight (Joey, Xander, Xander's parents, etc) speak far louder.

Argh the struggles Joey battles make JOEY THE GOOD such an authentic, riveting, and heartfelt read! Erin Fry takes Joey and the reader on an exciting and tumultuous journey, laying out every step in such a compelling path I couldn’t help but root for Joey through his triumphs and even his missteps. I loved the descriptions of each hike he takes with his cousin and each hurdle he overcomes with himself. Readers will empathize with Joey as he learns persistence at climbing mountains, forgiving himself, and developing relationships with new friends as well as long-loved family members. JOEY THE GOOD will draw in readers with its heartwarming story and heart-racing twists!

When Joey’s cousin, Leo, comes to stay with Joey’s family for the summer, Leo tells him I want to take you hiking and eventually I want us to climb the highest mountain in the lower 48 states, Mt. Whitney. Joey would rather stay home but reluctantly starts small hikes with Leo because he thinks it’s what Nonno would have wanted. One day while hiking Joey finds out Leo has MS and wonders how can we hike Mt. Whitney later this summer, but Joey agrees to hoping he won’t regret it and worried he won’t be able to do it. As they take small hikes more and more, the two boys are getting along better, and Joey finds hiking isn’t so bad. One day while on a hike, something happens to Leo. Will they be able to eventually hike Mt, Whitney?
Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the eARC of this book. All opinions are my own.