Taryn recommends "Not Nothing"

Alex has been having a rough time, to say the least, his father’s gone and his mother is struggling with mental health issues which lands him living with his aunt and uncle who seem less than excited to have him. Alex has been treated like he doesn’t matter and that he is nothing, so when a kid at school actually tells him that he’s nothing, Alex snaps and gets violent. Luckily for Alex, he has a social worker who pulls some strings that lands him a job at a nursing home instead of juvie. Here he meets Maya-Jade, who unlike Alex, believes that she can make a difference and Alex reluctantly befriends. After a lockdown due to a flu outbreak, Alex is left to deliver meals to the residents. Here he meets Josey, a 107-year-old Holocaust survivor who hasn’t spoken in years. When Alex delivers Josey’s meal, and a run in with a picture, Josey starts talking. Josey and Alex form an unlikely bond with Josey confiding in Alex about his past. While listening to Josey’s story and with the help of Maya-Jade, Alex begins to believe that he can make a difference and that maybe he’s not nothing after all.  

This is an amazing book that will break your heart only to put it back together again. The bond that Josey forms with Alex begins to heal both characters and will make you root for Alex to believe in himself. Instead of being narrated by Alex or in the usual third person, Josey is the narrator of this book which allows you to see the growth of Alex through somebody else’s eyes. I loved hearing about Josey’s story and felt that it mirrored the way that Alex was feeling. Josey and Alex’s relationship has to be one of my favorites from books that I have read in the last few years. I absolutely loved this book and would recommend it to anyone that needs to believe that people can change and that there is good in this world. This book does have some sad moments and talks about some off-screen violence. I would recommend this for ages 8 and up (adults don’t let the middle grade rating fool you).