It's the summer of 1989, and Mia is on her own-adjusting to life without her ex-best friend, Lara.
Summer vacation starts off well enough as Mia binges MTV and learns how to jar fish with her aunty and uncle. Then her grandma starts feeling unwell. At first, Mia isn't too worried, but when a call comes in from the clinic to say her grandmother has to go to the hospital in Vancouver, everyone realizes this is serious.
Mia and her mom and aunties head to the city to be by her grandmother's side. Mia mostly ping-pongs from the hospital to the motel, but she also gets to see some of the city and eat (too much) takeout. She even joins a basketball camp at the Friendship Centre, where she meets a teen coach who inspires her to get back into the game she loves and delve deeper into what it means to be Indigenous. As time passes, Mia's grandmother's health doesn't improve, and she has to face the fact that her beloved grandma might not get better.
The epub edition of this title is fully accessible.
Praise for Kim Spencer's Weird Rules to Follow:
★"Readers will be left with a rich image of Mia's world and the family and people that surround her as well as a strong sense of how culture and class impact people's experiences. A touching exploration of identity and culture."-Kirkus Reviews
Key Selling Points
• In this follow-up to the acclaimed Weird Rules to Follow, Mia's summer has just begun when her beloved grandmother is sent to the hospital in Vancouver. Mia and her mom and aunties head to the city to be with her, leading to a summer of exploration, family, self discovery and loss.
• This book explores the power of intergenerational relationships and the grief of losing a grandparent, as well as the pain but inevitability of growing beyond certain friendships.
• Kim has once again sensitively captured the perspective of tween Mia and gives us a meaningful next step in her journey, as she experiences this coming-of-age summer, listening to and learning from the family around her, and discovering her own strength and the strength of her Indigenous roots.
• As with Weird Rules to Follow, Mia's experiences are loosely based on the author's own life, and that authenticity comes through in the characters, relationships and story vignettes.
• Kim Spencer's debut middle-grade novel Weird Rules to Follow won the 2023 TD Canadian Children's Literature Award, the 2023 Geoffrey Bilson Award for Historical Fiction, the 2023 Jean Little First Novel Award, the 2023 IODE Violet Downey Book Award and the 2024 Pacific Northwest Book Award. She also has a picture book, Springtime in Kitkatla, coming out with Orca in Winter 2026.
Kim Spencer is an award-winning, bestselling author. Her debut novel, Weird Rules to Follow, received a Kirkus starred review and was a 2023 Governor General's Literary Award finalist. The book won multiple awards, including a 2023 TD Canadian Children's Literature Award, a 2023 Jean Little First-Novel Award and a 2024 Pacific Northwest Book Award. It was also on the IBBY 2024 Honour List and the USBBY Outstanding International Books List in 2023. Kim is from the Gitxaała Nation and lives in northwest BC.
In this middle-grade, follow-up novel to Weird Rules to Follow, Mia's beloved grandmother gets sick and is sent to a Vancouver hospital. Mia travels with her family to be with her and spends weeks bouncing between motel room, visiting hours and city adventures as she begins to realize that her grandmother might not get better. "Engaging, endearing and earnest, Spencer skillfully weaves together the simple joys of life with painful truths." "Kim Spencer is a master at seeing the world through a child's eyes. A moving tribute to life, love, family and community."
"A sensitive and wise rendering of Mia grappling with grief, family and identity. Mia's self-discovery journey and her celebration of family, identity and roots will be hugely appeal
