Book Review! Tiny Infinities, by J.H. Diehl
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
From the jacket: “When Alice’s dad moves out, leaving her with her troubled mother, she does the only thing that feels right: she retreats to her family’s old Renaissance tent in the backyard, determined to live there until her dad comes home. In an attempt to keep at least one part of her summer from changing, Alice focuses on her quest to swim freestyle fast enough to get on her swim team’s record board. But summers contain multitudes, and soon Alice meets an odd new friend, Harriet, whose obsession with the school’s science fair is equal only to her conviction that Alice’s best stroke is backstroke, not freestyle. Most unexpected of all is an unusual babysitting charge, Piper, who is mute—until Alice hears her speak. “
Yes, Alice’s parents are splitting up. Her dad has just moved out to live in his own apartment. And Alice’s mom has been spending most of her time in bed, ever since a car accident left her deeply depressed.
But this isn’t a sad or dark book — rather, it’s profoundly joyful and inspiring, much more concerned with how we heal, change, and grow, rather than wallowing in sadness.
And it’s also laugh-out-loud funny. Alice’s new friend Harriet is an absolute delight, and so is Alice herself. I was hardly able to put this one down — I read it in two days. And unlike many books I read that quickly, I found myself thinking of it — remembering favorite scenes, feeling like the characters were still with me, wondering what they went on to do after the events in the book — for days afterward. I would truly love to spend more time with all of these characters. Each one is well-defined, sharply observed, and entirely believable.
An all-around lovely book that I’d highly recommend to any middle grade readers who enjoy a good character-driven story.
