Pavi Sharma's Guide to Going Home

Pavi Sharma's Guide to Going Home introduces Pavi, a resourceful twelve-year-old who has navigated the foster care system for years. Having developed a 'Front Door Face' and a 'business' to help other foster kids adapt, Pavi believes she's found stability with her new foster family. However, her world is upended when she learns a five-year-old, Meridee, is placed in the very first, 'horrendous' foster home that still gives Pavi nightmares. Convinced no one will believe a child's account, Pavi, along with her foster brother Hamilton and friends, takes matters into her own hands to rescue Meridee. This moving novel explores themes of family, friendship, resilience, and the complexities of the foster care system, making it suitable for children aged 4-11, with deeper themes resonating with the older end of the spectrum.

The Fosters meets The Great Gilly Hopkins in this moving novel, featuring foster kid Pavi Sharma as she sets off on an important mission to save a fellow foster kid from the home that still haunts her nightmares. Twelve-year-old Pavi Sharma is an expert at the Front Door Face: the perfect mix of puppy dog eyes and a lemonade smile, the exact combination to put foster parents at ease as they open their front door to welcome you in. After being bounced around between foster families and shelter stays, Pavi is a foster care expert, and she runs a "business" teaching other foster kids all she has learned. With a wonderful foster family in mom Marjorie and brother Hamilton, things are looking up for Pavi. Then Pavi meets Meridee: a new five-year-old foster kid, who is getting placed at Pavi's first horrendous foster home. Pavi knows no one will trust a kid about what happened on Lovely Lane, even one as mature as she is, so it's up to her to save Meridee. With help from Hamilton, brooding eighth grader Santos, and Hamilton's somewhat obnoxious BFF Piper, they set off on an important mission with life-changing stakes. Pavi will stop at nothing to keep Meridee safe.