Oh Brother

by Sonya Spreen Bates

Moving to a new city and a new school is never easy. So Lauren is relieved when Callie, Treena and Maddy welcome her into their group. But then Lauren witnesses their reaction to a first-grader in a wheelchair. That kid is her little brother, Will. But she’s afraid that if she tells them, they may not want to be friends with her. Soon Lauren finds herself living a double life as she struggles with the challenges of building new friendships and trying to make it up to Will for not acknowledging him at school. At some point Lauren will have to make a decision. What is more important―friends or family?

144 pages, Paperback

Published February 14, 2023

About the author

Sonya Spreen Bates is a Canadian writer living in South Australia. Although born in the USA, she grew up in Victoria BC Canada where she studied Linguistics and then Speech-Language Pathology. She has spent many years working with children with communication disorders, and began writing fiction soon after her daughters were born.

Sonya writes for children and adults, and has been published in Australia, New Zealand and Canada. Her manuscript When Secrets Come to Light was shortlisted for the inaugural Banjo prize in 2018.

Reviews

[Sheri Radford · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an interesting and relatable story that is sure to have reluctant readers turning pages to the very end, to find out which (if any) of the main character's new friends are *actually* her friends. It was a smart choice on the author's part to leave the brother's disability vague.

[Trixie Wagner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book that deals with a lot of experiences that young people have to deal with at school and home.

[Joan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great for Grades 3-5.