{"id":17064,"date":"2020-09-01T05:00:45","date_gmt":"2020-09-01T11:00:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.crackingthecover.com\/?p=17064"},"modified":"2020-08-31T14:55:17","modified_gmt":"2020-08-31T20:55:17","slug":"barbara-dee-my-life-in-a-fish-tank","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.crackingthecover.com\/17064\/barbara-dee-my-life-in-a-fish-tank\/","title":{"rendered":"Barbara Dee’s My Life in a Fish Tank is fantastic MG"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"My<\/a>MY LIFE IN THE FISH TANK, <\/a>by\u00a0Barbara Dee<\/a>, Aladdin, Sept. 15, 2020, Hardcover, $17.99 (ages 9 and up)<\/strong><\/em><\/h6>\n

Barbara Dee\u2019s My Life in the Fish Tank<\/em> is one of my favorite books of 2020.<\/p>\n

At the center of the story is 12-year-old Zinnia (Zinny for short). When Zinny\u2019s brother Gabriel gets in a car accident at college, the whole family is set on edge. Gabriel didn\u2019t just get in an accident. Things haven\u2019t been right in a long time, and Zinny\u2019s beloved older brother is diagnosed with a mental illness.<\/p>\n

In a flash, the entire Manning family\u2019s world is turned upside down. Zinny\u2019s parents want Zinny, her 16-year-old sister, Scarlett, and her 8-year-old brother, Aiden, to keep Gabriel\u2019s bipolar disorder \u201cprivate.\u201d<\/p>\n

That means Zinny is suddenly keeping secrets from her two best friends, her teachers, her classmates, everyone. Zinny can\u2019t even talk about it in Lunch Club, a group run by the school guidance counselor, where she\u2019s supposed to feel free to say anything.<\/p>\n

If not for her school science class, Zinny would have nothing to look forward to. She\u2019s got a cool teacher and cool class experiments, and she\u2019s got a chance at spot in a marine biology camp over the summer. But how can Zinny move forward if her family is still stuck in one place?<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t remember a lot of middle-grade books from my own childhood that touched on mental illness, let alone made it a key element. I\u2019m sure there were a few, but not like there are today. Now, authors are not only bringing it to the fore, authors like Barbara Dee are bringing it in a powerful, tangible way.<\/p>\n

Zinny\u2019s story bounces around a bit, with some chapters flashing back to before Gabriel\u2019s accident. These moments of reflection feel like natural moments in Zinny\u2019s journey. As she learns more, she looks back at events and sees clues pertaining to her brother.<\/p>\n

After the accident, Zinny becomes a mini adult, taking on tasks her parents normally would and should be doing. She\u2019s making grocery lists, trying to cook and helping Aiden with his homework. But Zinny is still a child. And she has considerable fears of her own. She is weighed down in the most authentic and heartbreaking way.<\/p>\n

Despite taking on a heavy topic, Barabara Dee has managed to lace My Life in a Fish Tank<\/em> with light and hope. Humor is sprinkled throughout and there are strong adult and teen\/tween supporting characters that flesh out the story.<\/p>\n

My Life in a Fish Tank<\/em> is a book many readers can relate to and one that will help others who have not directly been impacted by mental illness to understand what their friends might be going through.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Barbara Dee\u2019s latest middle-grade novel, My Life in the Fish Tank, is one of my favorite books of 2020. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":17066,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,347],"tags":[801,483,291],"yoast_head":"\nBarbara Dee's My Life in a Fish Tank is fantastic MG - www.crackingthecover.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Barbara Dee\u2019s latest middle-grade novel, My Life in the Fish Tank, is one of my favorite books of 2020.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.crackingthecover.com\/17064\/barbara-dee-my-life-in-a-fish-tank\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Barbara Dee's My Life in a Fish Tank is fantastic MG - 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