A review by lollypopkins225
Courage for Beginners by Karen Harrington

5.0

I may be a 40+ year old ,but when I grow up I want to be as sure of myself as Rama Khan ("RAMA KHAN!")and as creative in my thinking as Mysti. Mysti would love to be the character in a book and she makes up interesting stories about her life. Her real life is confusing. Her "best friend" is performing an experiment in which Mysti becomes the butt of his teasing at school and they have to pretend to not be friends during school. Her mother is agraphobic and her dad is hospitalized due to a fall. Mysti's mom refuses to ask for any help so Mysti has to worry about trying to figure out how to take care of her family while their food supplies dwindle. She has to deal with her "best friend" making her the butt of his jokes at school and worrying about school and friends. However she finds her way with the help of some friends and a Texas loving history teacher.

Great story would recommend it to all those who like well written realistic fiction and don't mind reading books written for middle school kids. I know I'm recommending it to lots of my patrons as a children's library assistant.