Kid America: Mission Point Press

Raised in Chicago by a single mother and coming out of COVID-19 isolation, Lenny is faced with the fallout of Momma's drug conviction. Sent to live with grandparents in rural Illinois, he does what he always does: keeps his mouth shut and makes the best of it. He helps in the garden, mows the yard, takes care of the dog, and is Grams's canning helper. He's always agreeable, even when Paps rails against the government and vaccines. Still, he can't wait until Momma's released and they're back in Chicago. When school starts, Lenny's ready, if only to get out of the house. Any hope for change for the better, however, evaporates when Grams and Paps get COVID. Lenny wants to get them help. "It's no one's business," they say. He's left to care for them and fend off the school attendance lady and a nosy history teacher. That is, until Misty, the sullen blond-haired girl the next farm over, takes an interest in him. She reads him like a book. Then again, Lenny recognizes her family's struggle and that, like him, she has no one to turn to. He knows he can't do anything about any of it, except break the chain linking him to it.