Trudy Milkweed Prize for Children s Literature

Trudy's parents are older than other kids' parents. As she enters middle school, Ma and Pop are in their sixties and seventies--so old, in fact, that most people mistake them for her grandparents. As if that isn't complicated enough, Trudy's also having a hard time at school. Math class isn't going so well, and Ashley--who she pinky-swore she would always be best friends with--has ditched her for a new crowd. Life at Benavidez Middle School is certainly an adjustment.

As the school year goes on, she finds a new best friend, the straight-talking Roshanda; has her first serious crush on a boy; and gets used to life with lockers and class schedules. But just when things are getting better at school, Trudy and Ma notice that Pop is acting funny--he forgets to pick Trudy up from school and starts to put groceries away in the bathroom. Soon, Trudy and her mother embark on a quest to find out what is wrong.

Told in a voice that is honest and pure, Trudy tells the story of an eleven-year-old girl who is growing up while her beloved Pop, diagnosed with Alzheimer's, slips away.