Last Summer with Maizon

Jacqueline Woodson's 'Last Summer with Maizon' is a poignant chapter book exploring the complex emotions of an eleven-year-old girl named Margaret. Her life is irrevocably altered by two significant events: the sudden death of her beloved father and the departure of her best friend, Maizon, to an exclusive boarding school. The narrative beautifully delves into Margaret's grief, her struggle with loneliness, and her journey of self-discovery as she learns to navigate a world without her closest confidantes. The New York Times praised its mature exploration of grown-up issues, including death, racism, independence, and the nurturing of a gifted Black child, making it a powerful story about resilience and identity for young readers.

Margaret loves her parents and hanging out with her best friend, Maizon. Then it happens, like a one-two punch, during the summer she turns eleven: first, Margaret's father dies of a heart attack, and then Maizon is accepted at an expensive boarding school, far away from the city they call home. For the first time in her life, Margaret has to turn to someone who isn't Maizon, who doesn't know her heart and her dreams. . . . "Ms. Woodson writes with a sure understanding of the thoughts of young people, offering a poetic, eloquent narrative that is not simply a story of nearly adolescent children, but a mature exploration of grown-up issues: death, racism, independence, the nurturing of the gifted black child and, most important, self-discovery." (The New York Times)