Shelagh-it's supposed to be pronounced Shey-la but nobody ever gets it right-has just turned 13. Life is pretty complicated. Her mom and dad are divorced, and she hardly ever sees them. Her mom is always busy with a new boyfriend, and even though Shelagh lives with her dad, he's rarely around. Her brother, Jake, has cerebral palsy, and her sister, Jane, is a pain. The only person who seems to care about her is Betty, the housekeeper who takes care of her family.
Then Shelagh's best friend, Tanya, comes up with a great idea: to pair up students with seniors who live in a retirement home. They name their club Match Made before Heaven.
Shelagh is matched with Dorothy, a lovely woman who teaches her to knit and with whom she can share her secrets. One of those secrets is her confusing feelings for Tom, a boy who also volunteers for the club. One day they are getting along great-and the next day he won't even talk to her.
Dorothy is a wonderful friend, but Shelagh can't help worrying that something might happen to her. All she wants is someone to help explain the questions life keeps throwing at her-someone who will listen, no matter what. Someone who will cheer when Shelagh says, "This is me."
In its realistic yet heartwarming depiction of one girl's everyday struggles and triumphs, Stephanie Craig's accomplished first novel invites comparisons to the beloved work of Jean Little. Warm, compassionate, clear-eyed and boundlessly hopeful, This Is Me is a novel to be read, cherished and read again.
"Craig's great strength...is her ear for the teenage voice, and her ability to capture it in print. She is at her best when describing the interaction between Shelagh and her friends, and in her delineation of Shelagh herself, capturing effortlessly the naivety, the longings, and thoughts of a thirteen year old." -Books in Canada
