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Told in alternating points of view, this middle grade novel, following best friends Ronny and Jo, is about anxiety, being in over your head, and learning to accept help--even if you don’t know how to ask Eight hundred seventy-eight dollars. That’s how much Ronny needs by January 4th to make to keep his family’s only car from getting repossessed. Since a workplace injury disabled his dad and forced the family to move from their home into the apartment complex across the street, Ronny’s been learning all sorts of things--like what letters marked with Final Notice means and that banks can take cars away for being behind on payments. ; His best friend Josefina Ramos is also counting down until the start of January when her life could change forever--that’s when she has her big cello audition at the prestigious music academy Maple Hill. Except she can’t play a solo performance without something disastrous happening and no one seems to hear her when she talks about how nervous she is. ; As the countdown to the new year rolls ahead, Ronny and Jo learn what can happen to best-laid plans and how to depend on one another and their community when things get tough.
About the author
Matthew Landis slays boredom wherever it lurks in his eighth-grade social studies classroom. He lives in Doylestown, PA, with his wife and four kids, thirty chickens, and hopes to one day achieve whatever level of fame allows his giant family to vacation in Cape Town and go on endless safaris.
Summary
Learning to ask for help is hard, but living with no help is harder as these two friends find out in this novel that Publishers Weekly calls, 'A feel-good story with Hallmark Christmas movie vibes'
