Not Nothing by Gayle Forman Advanced Edition Copy ARC Book Bestselling Author

Advanced Copy Not Nothing by Gayle Forman Advanced Readers Copy ARC Bestselling Author "The book we all need at the time we all need it." —Katherine Applegate. In this middle grade novel from #1 New York Times bestselling author Gayle Forman, a boy who has been assigned to spend his summer volunteering at a senior living facility learns unexpected lessons that change the trajectory of his life.To say Alex has had it rough is an understatement. His father's gone, his mother is struggling with mental health issues, & he's now living with an aunt & uncle who are less than excited to have him. Almost everyone treats him as though he doesn't matter at all, like he's nothing. So when a kid at school actually tells him he's nothing, Alex snaps, & gets violent. Fortunately, his social worker pulls some strings & gets him a job at a nursing home for the summer rather than being sent to juvie. There, he meets Josey, the 107-year-old Holocaust survivor who stopped bothering to talk years ago, and Maya-Jade, the granddaughter of one of the residents with an overblown sense of importance. Unlike Alex, Maya-Jade believes that people care about what she thinks, and that she can make a difference. And when Alex and Josey form an unlikely bond, with Josey confiding in him, Alex starts to believe he can make a difference-a good difference-in the world. If he can truly feel he matters, Alex may be able to finally rise to the occasion of his own life. Young adult middle school LGBT fiction