I have already talked about one of her books that I have reread several times, Sincerely, but last year I decided to go on a binge of several of her middle grade books. None of them are connected, but each deal with the complexities of families and the young protagonists dealing with big changes in their lives.

In the case of Positively,

Emerson’s mother has recently died after a long battle with HIV, which Emerson inherited with her birth. As Emerson not only is dealing with her grief, but is moving in with her dad and step-mother. All this causes her to draw into herself as she feels that her dad is so exicted about his potential new family because he’ll have healthy children and she is very concerned about her own future as she grows with HIV. Concerned for her, her dad sends her to Camp Positive for kids who are HIV+. Sheinmel has experience with this as she details in her Introduction that she has helped work in a similar camp and foundation and so is able to show the diversity of experiences, the feelings of fear, anger and doubt as well as the reactions of society and families who have kicked some of these kids out of their homes in fear of contagion or the burden of finances for their medicine. It’s about life, death, grief and all that is in between when it comes to this specific group of people who must deal with HIV. It’s not victim-porn, but thoughtful and as the title indicates leaves off with a positive note.

In My So-Called Family–

Leah is also moving into the house of her step-father and transfering to a new school to boot. Not that she resents her step-dad, he makes her mom happy so she’s happy plus her half-brother is adorable even if he annoys her at times. But sometimes she misses the closeness she and her mom shared of it just being the two of them against the world and now she has more rules to contend with as her dad adds his own rules for her to follow. Overall, normal family problems except Leah is a bit different. She doesn’t know her biological Dad. Her mother doesn’t know either. He was a sperm doner and in a moment of frustration at this new family order, Leah goes to the computer to try to find out who he is. She doesn’t, the spern donation files don’t detail personal information like that, but it does state she has half-siblings. From there, Leah goes undercover and behind some backs to find out more about her half-siblings and what constitutes a family.

Finally, All the Things you Are

This is a bit of change from all the blended families. Carly lives a pretty conventional life of two biological parents, going to school, etc. In fact, it’s a privileged life as she goes to a fancy private girls school thanks to her mother’s job as costume designer for a premiere soap opera. Carly seems to have it all, until it all falls apart. Her mother’s boss is arrested for embezzlement and her mother had been helping. The family is fractured with Carly and her father unable to understand the lies and greed that seemingly drove Carly’s mother to do this. Not only are the family bonds fractured and the “cool mom” pedestal completely broken, but Carly’s life is affected outside of home. Her so-called friends turn on her and everyone thinks the worst of her family, it feels like everyone is punishing her for what her Mom did. It’s a messy situation and Sheinmel does an excellent job showing the conflicting feelings Carly has over the situation and makes the fallout of the mother-daughter relationship the core of the book, exploring it in such a moving way.

Overall, I just highly recommend any one of these. Sheinmel’s strength lies with her emotional honesty and willingness to go there in exploring the nuance even when it is unhappy and can be hard. The endings aren’t always happy but they are I would say, realistic contentment. Not everything is solved but you feel satisfied by the journey and feel hope for the future. I believe that hope makes the most human because I believe we lean on the side of optimism and hope and Sheinmel uses her work to shed light on all sides of humanity and family.