Review: Welcome Back, Maple Mehta-Cohen
Welcome Back, Maple Mehta-Cohen by Kate McGovern Candlewick Press Category: Middle Grade Reviewer: Dena Bach Buy at Bookshop.org Starting over is often harder than beginning. In the words of Maple Mehta-Cohen, being held back in fifth grade instead of going on to middle school with her friends, “ruined” her life. Until her beloved teacher Ms. Little-Chan found out her secret, Maple had been able to hide the fact that she couldn’t read from her teachers, her parents, and her two best friends, Marigold and Aislinn. That’s because Maple loves words and books and stories. She loves the look and feel of books, she loves when her father reads books to her, and she especially loves making up and recording her stories with her digital voice recorder. But after her old friends abandon her on the first day of school, Maple finds it hard to navigate the loss of her friends, the new class of students, and her placement in Ms. Fine’s reading group with the “kids who need extra-extra