Olivia Kidney and the Exit Academy

Reach for this book when your child feels like an outsider or is struggling with the strange, surreal feeling of moving to a new place. It is particularly helpful for middle-grade readers who use humor and imagination to mask deeper feelings of loneliness or grief. The story follows Olivia, a girl who moves into a bizarre New York brownstone where the living room is a literal lake and ghosts are everywhere. While the premise is fantastical and laugh-out-loud funny, the book serves as a metaphorical exploration of a child's internal world. It addresses themes of belonging and the difficult process of letting go of the past. Parents will appreciate how it validates a child's sense of displacement through a quirky, absurdist lens that makes heavy emotions feel manageable and adventurous.