PAVI SHARMA'S GUIDE TO GOING HOME

Narrator Ariana Cordero gives a fresh, youthful voice to precocious, straight-A foster kid Pavi Sharma in this feel-good story. Twelve-year-old Pavi is happy and thriving in her current foster family, but she hasn't forgotten the struggles foster kids face. So she provides a package of services for fellow foster kids, researching their new families and schools in exchange for snacks and school supplies. When a girl named Meridee is placed in Pavi's nightmarish former foster home, Pavi enlists an unlikely trio of middle schoolers, including her eighth-grade "client," Santos; her foster brother, Hamilton; and his best friend, Piper, to help save Meridee. Cordero's voice expertly reflects all the kids' personalities: Pavi's can-do confidence, Santos's cool aloofness, Hamilton's kind loyalty, and Piper's whiny sense of entitlement. S.C. © AudioFile 2020, Portland, Maine [Published: FEBRUARY 2020]