Read All About It: Good things happen when fifth grader faces secret
"Welcome Back, Maple Mehta-Cohen"
Author: Kate McGovern
Candlewick Press, 278 pages, ages 10 to 13
“Welcome Back, Maple Mehta-Cohen” chronicles the daily life of Maple, who has a quirky fashion sense, a love of new vocabulary words (the bigger, the better) and a talent for creating mystery stories full of suspense. She documents these original tales on a recorder that she keeps with her at all times.
Maple also has a secret. She is in the fifth grade, and she can’t read. The letters seem to rearrange themselves on the page no matter how long or hard she stares at them. Through clever machinations and not a little subterfuge, Maple has managed to hide her challenges from her fellow students and her teachers.
“In class, we were always in small groups. No one ever seemed to notice that I never wanted to be the one to read the instructions out loud. Plus, I had plenty of tricks. I’d use the pictures to figure out what the story meant. I recognized a lot of words just from memorizing them, especially the common ones. That helped, too. I asked to go to the bathroom at just the right moment … I’d take books out of the school library and tote them around with me, flipping the pages at what seemed like the appropriate intervals during independent reading hour. Then I’d return them the day before their due date and give the librarian a big thumbs up.”
An astute teacher finally notices Maple’s issues, and when “Welcome Back” opens, readers find out that Maple is going to have to repeat fifth grade. Complete mortification sets in. What will people say? Are her parents disappointed? What about all her friends who are moving on to sixth grade? She has known them her whole life.
The first day of the second time she matriculates through fifth grade, Maple decides to tell her new classmates that she was specifically asked to stay behind to be a special helper to the teacher. Those pesky budget cuts! Oh, and also, it’s a secret that she’s infiltrating the class to provide educational support to her peers. Let’s not mention anything.
Maple’s cover story seems to work and provides temporary relief from her turgid emotions, but maintaining a lie starts to become difficult and stressful. As she gets to know her new contemporaries and wistfully watches while her previous ones drift away, Maple starts to doubt the wisdom of creating such a facade.
Readers of all ages will empathize with Maple as she faces her troubles and learns a thing or two about truth, friendship and perseverance. Author Kate McGovern is best known for her young adult novels such as “Rules for 50/50 Chances” and “Fear of Missing Out.” “Welcome Back” is her debut novel for middle-grade readers, and it is based on her experience working with students in classrooms and after-school programs.
Brandy Hilboldt Allport writes Read All About It, a children’s book review column for the Florida Times-Union. She can be reached at brandyallport@outlook.com.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Read All About It: 'Welcome Back, Maple Mehta-Cohen,' by Kate McGovern
