In Miriam Chernick’s new middle grade book, The Zuzu Secret, that comes out today, Josie and Abe are dealing with enough even before the car accident. The Shermans have just moved to Silver Spring where the parents are preoccupied in adapting to new jobs. Josie’s enthusiasm for a vet volunteering job she hopes for gets lost in the chaos. Timing for a parent to sign the consent form gets postponed to later or waylaid repeatedly. This leaves her pretty sure she’s losing ground in her goal of following her hero James Herriott who wrote all the stories about his adventures with animals. Abe’s disability with the rare Prader-Willi syndrome makes the move with them – along with a no-pets-in-this-family rule. The car accident puts into play a whole new series of secrets and deceptions when Josie finds the bearded dragon lizard that caused it.
Josie and Abe take turns telling the story with distinctive voices that bring the reader into their worlds that seem both separate and together. Abe’s lack of independence cuts in on Josie’s dreams as she balances her own goals with care for her brother. Abe’s disability restrictions hamper his independence and fluency, but create an endearing personality all the same. I became fond of a favorite phrase he uses to describe the look of a cheery grin – “smiles with all his teeth out.”
The reader is drawn into the secrets as Josie hides Zuzu, even from Abe, and Abe works on his plan to see his favorite Orioles play, cheer for Manny Machado, and snag a foul ball for his mother. Back matter reveals how Miriam is able to give such a clear understanding of the Prader-Willi syndrome and of the sibling relationship with a note and picture of her with her brother who lives with the syndrome.
While this book that comes out today is labelled for middle grade, if you have a love for a good story, don’t let the age thing stop you!