Kyra, Just for Today

by Sara Zarr (Author)

Kyra, Just for Today
Reading Level: 6th − 7th Grade

From award-winning author Sara Zarr comes a gorgeously crafted and deeply personal story about a young girl, her alcoholic mother, and the hope that ties them together.

Krya has always felt like she's a bit too much. Too tall. Too loud. Too earnest. But she's okay with that, because she's got her mom. Ever since Mom got sober about five years ago, she and Kyra have always been there for each other--something Kyra is thankful for every week when she attends her group meetings with other kids of alcoholics. When Mom is managing her cleaning business and Kyra is taking care of things at home, maybe, she thinks, she's not too much. Maybe, she's just enough.

Then seventh grade starts, and everything Kyra used to be able to count on feels unsure. Kyra's best friend, Lu, is hanging out with eighth graders, and Mom is unusually distant. When Mom starts missing work, sleeping in, and forgetting things, Kyra doesn't dare say "relapse." But soon not saying that word means not saying anything at all--to Lu or to her support group. And when Kyra suspects that her worst fears might be real, she starts to question whether being just enough is not enough at all.

With sensitivity and candor, acclaimed author Sara Zarr tells a heartfelt, personal story about finding hope in even the most difficult places, and love in even the most complicated relationships.

Select format:
Hardcover
$19.99

Kirkus

Starred Review
For anyone affected by an alcoholic family member, this story will resonate with searing truth. 

ALA/Booklist

This tender middle-grade novel underscores the beauty of uncertainty and having enough faith in one another to try over and over again.

Review quotes

Informative and validating, this story is all the more powerful for Kyra's first-person narration, which underscores her love for her mother and her desire to take care of her, as well as her confusion as she confronts feelings of guilt, resentment, and anger. For anyone affected by an alcoholic family member, this story will resonate with searing truth. — Kirkus Reviews (starred review)


Classification
Fiction
ISBN-13
9780063045132
Lexile Measure
-
Guided Reading Level
-
Publisher
Balzer & Bray/Harperteen
Publication date
March 05, 2024
Series
-
BISAC categories
JUV039060 - Juvenile Fiction | Social Themes | Friendship
JUV039040 - Juvenile Fiction | Social Themes | Drugs, Alcohol, Substance Abuse
Library of Congress categories
Mother and child
Alcoholics
Children of alcoholics

Subscribe to our delicious e-newsletter!