Description

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A fun, fast-paced story about a girl determined to cut the cord with her helicopter parents.

Twelve-year-old coder Averil can't do anything without her parents knowing. That’s because her mom uses the Ruby Slippers surveillance app to check where she is, who she texts, and even what she eats for lunch. Averil wonders how she’s ever going to grow up if she’s not allowed to learn from mistakes. When she learns that Ruby Slippers is about to become even more invasive, she teams up with Max, a new kid at school dealing with overbearing parents of his own. Together they figure out an almost foolproof way to ditch their parents and run away to the college campus that’s home to the quirky Ruby Slippers creator. It’s an extreme challenge just getting to meet with him—but the two kids cleverly figure out a series of puzzles and get their meeting. What they find gives them pause—and gets them thinking about the value of honesty in a new light. After all, isn’t trust at the heart of their parents' need to know?

About the Author

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Amy Noelle Parks (amynoelleparks.com) also wrote the middle grade novel Summer of Brave, as well as the young adult novels Lia and Beckett’s Abracadabra and The Quantum Weirdness of the Almost-Kiss. A professor of elementary education at Michigan State University, she helps future teachers recover from the trauma inflicted on them by years of school mathematics. Social media still scares her, but she’s working on it.

Praise For…

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“Two kids rebel against intrusive surveillance. . . . Averil and Max’s burgeoning friendship is well developed and will pull in readers. Parks also deftly grapples with relevant issues, such as the sexism that women and girls in STEM often face, the overwhelming presence of technology in our lives, and young people’s need for autonomy. . . . An absorbing tale of determination, friendship, and tech gone wrong.” —Kirkus Reviews

“A good fit for those who appreciate stories where kids have plenty to teach, and it’s the adults who should sit down and listen. Averil’s struggle to find her voice is a connection point, even for readers whose lives don’t look like hers. Parks expertly paints a picture of how gender discrimination affects students, while also illustrating the power of advocacy and autonomy wrapped up in a thrilling tech adventure.” —School Library Journal

“While the puzzle-solving elements à la Mr. Lemoncello’s Library make an easy draw for mystery-loving kids, Parks’ portrayal of helicopter parenting and smartphone-enabled surveillance will ring true for many tweens. The book is strongest when Averil is slowly unpacking the ways this surveillance has stunted her emotions, unable at first to express anger or anything else for fear of how adults will react, and so desperate for independence she’s willing to abandon her phone completely if it means finding freedom. . . . Averil is a compelling character grappling with being underestimated as a girl interested in STEM and a child looking to find herself, and this book may provide an outlet for kids processing their need for independence.” —The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books