Water Balloon
Publisher
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Publication Year
2014
ISBN
9780544275010
Pages
320 pages
Genre
realism
Format
novel
Item Type
Fiction
Annotation
A warm debut novel about friendship and first love, from a popular picture-book author. Marley's life is as precarious as an overfull water balloonone false move and everything will burst. Her best friends are pulling away from her, and her parents, newly separated, have decided she should spend the summer with her dad in his new house, with a job she didn't ask for and certainly doesn't want. On the upside is a cute boy who loves dogs as much as Marley does ... but young love has lots of opportunity for humiliation and misinterpreted signals. Luckily Marley is a girl who trusts her instincts and knows the truth when she sees it, making her an immensely appealing character and her story funny, heartfelt, and emotionally true.
Grade Level
3-5; 6-8
Diversity Topics
Family Relationships; Separation; separated parents; co-parenting; two homes
Main Character
girl
Race/Ethnicities
White
Family Formation
separated parents
Awards
The de Grummond Children's Literature Collection
Keywords
fathers and daughters; babysitting; best friends; friendship; dogs
Diversity Impact
direct
STARS Citation
Vernick, Audrey, "Water Balloon" (2014). Diverse Families. 1108.
https://stars.library.ucf.edu/diversefamilies/1108