Spotlight on Welcome Back, Maple Mehta-Cohen

Welcome Back, Maple Mehta-Cohen by Kate McGovern (2021) is another great book I’ve discovered through PJ Our Way, which sends free books each month to Jewish tweens. McGovern’s middle-grade novel is an engaging and thoughtful exploration of a neurodivergent character. (Check out further recommendations with neurodivergent characters.)

Maple has a type of dyslexia, which has gone undiscovered and untreated until the end of fifth grade when her teacher recommends she repeat the year and get the reading help she needs. Maple’s parents are shocked and feel guilty, while Maple is humiliated and anxious about what her friends and classmates will think.

Maple wants to stay friends with her two BFFs but finds it hard when they aren’t in the same grade. She begins to grow close to the kids in her reading group, but gets caught up in a lie about why she was held back that strains the possibility of friendship.

I liked how the book showed the details of how Maple and the reading group built up their reading skills, and how the process can take a long time. I also appreciated that Maple’s favorite activity is making up stories. She dictates and records the words, demonstrating that having trouble reading is different than enjoying stories or being able to write them!