So B. It by Sarah Weeks

So B. It by Sarah Weeks takes a subject that could simply be sad and turns it into a search for truth and the meaning of family. The main character, Heidi, is a young girl being raised by her mother , who is intellectually disabled and their neighbor, a woman who has agoraphobia. Heidi has no knowledge of her past; she does not even know her birthdate. "So B. It" is a name of a central character, and it also represents a mindset of acceptance that Heidi may or may not embrace in the end. Heidi wants to find herself , and she takes the reader along , learning what it is to "know" someone else or yourself. One reason I love this book about exceptional people is that the focus is NOT on the disability or the possible "tragedy" of having a parent who is disabled. Her Mom's disability is merely different and a barrier to getting information. None of the main characters have a sense of self-pity or shame.

By Lauren, secondary English teacher