Grace the Amazing - by Aleesah Darlison (Paperback)

About the Book

Grace Marshall is eleven years old. Shes curious, precocious, and eccentric. Her only true friend is her art teacher, Pamela. When Grace discovers that Pamela is dying, she embarks on a journey to find a cure for Pamela using miraculous magic. While doing so she asks the big questions about life, love, friendship, and death.

Book Synopsis

What would you do if you were about to lose your best friend forever.

Grace the Amazing is a story that GLOWS. Quirky, original, and endearing, its filled with fun, laughter, tears, and totally relatable childhood moments that will forever find a place in your heart.

Grace Marshall is eleven years old. Shes curious and precocious, stubborn and determined, creative and eccentric. She dreams of becoming many things when she grows up, including a magician called Grace the Amazing!

Grace may be little, but she has big emotions and a million burning questions that demand answers. Her only friend is her art teacher, Pamela. When Grace discovers that Pamela is dying, the fragile certainties that existed in Graces world threaten to slip away. She embarks on a journey to find a cure for Pamela using miraculous magic and while doing so she asks the big questions about life, love, friendship, and death. Some of the answers she uncovers will surprise both Grace and readers.

Covering issues of family, friendship, finding yourself, mental health, love, loss, animals, brilliant teachers who can change your life, and everything in between. For ages 8+.

Review Quotes

"Join candid and creative eleven-year-old Grace as she grapples with the
impending loss of her closest (and only) friend. If only Grace could do real
magic ...

Expect to cry happy and sad tears with this special story."

-LoveOzMG

"With themes of family, friendship, loss, grief and mental health, this
moving middle-grade novel explores neurodivergence, the special bond between
students and teachers, dealing with difficult situations and the loss of loved
ones."
- Story Links

"Drawing on the author's lived experience it explores a family's
experience of early-onset dementia from the child's point of view. The care of
the family's chickens is a well-crafted metaphor for Mama's changing but
enduring relationship with her children. The use of the chickens in this way is
relatable and age-appropriate for younger children and adds playfulness to a
heavy topic."
- Educating Young Children Journal

"A novel that will gently tug on your heartstrings. An engaging story,
full of profound emotions and deep relationships."
- Magpies Magazine

"this is a coming-of-age story that will resonate with many who also feel isolated, a misfit and misunderstood, as once again, Darlison has created credible characters who could be the kids we know and so the reader fits right into the story."
-The Bottom Shelf

"this is a great read for your kiddos from around Year 4 upwards, and definitely a very worthy contender for a shared serial read [particularly Year 4/5 before they get all snarky in the upper school IMO], and obviously as a valuable adjunct to your classroom in engaging emotional intelligence."
- Just So Stories

"A sensitive story filled
with joy, heart, and special bonds that last a lifetime."
- Buzz Words

"Aleesah Darlison has
created a powerful, realistic, and insightful representation of life situations
children struggle to understand, at an age when friendships define who they
are. In the frank narrative voice of her leading
character, Darlison has produced a beautiful, well-rounded
portrait of a troubled child; how she thinks, what she worries about, and the
insecurities that at times plague her, with resolutions."
- Kids' Book Review

"The delightful character of
Grace will resonate with many young readers. She is full of energy, passion and creativity, yet struggles to find
her place amongst her peers"

- ReadPlus