Fighting Words
Readers rate it 4.6 (21 on Hardcover)
272 pages · Released Aug 11, 2020 · Dial Books for Young Readers
Content report card
Fighting Words parent’s guide: what’s inside
Violence
LGBTQ+ themes
What it offers
Educational value
A note for parents
This Newbery Honor book directly addresses child sexual abuse, trauma, and suicide in age-appropriate but unflinching ways. While the subject matter is serious and potentially distressing, the novel treats these themes with compassion and ultimately delivers powerful messages about speaking up, sisterhood, and healing. It is best suited for mature middle-grade readers who have some capacity to process heavy emotional content, ideally with parent awareness and discussion support.
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From the publisher
A candid and fierce middle grade novel about sisterhood and sexual abuse, by two-time Newbery Honor winner and #1 New York Times best seller Kimberly Brubaker Bradley, author of The War that Saved My Life. Ten-tear-old Della has always had her older sister, Suki: When their mom went to prison, Della had Suki. When thei... A candid and fierce middle grade novel about sisterhood and sexual abuse, by two-time Newbery Honor winner and #1 New York Times best seller Kimberly Brubaker Bradley, author of The War that Saved My Life. Ten-tear-old Della has always had her older sister, Suki: When their mom went to prison, Della had Suki. When their mom's boyfriend took them in, Della had Suki. When that same boyfriend did something so awful they had to run fast, Della had Suki. Suki is Della's own wolf -- her protector. But who has been protecting Suki? Della might get told off for swearing at school, but she has always known how to keep quiet where it counts. Then Suki tries to kill herself, and Della's world turns so far upside down, it feels like it's shaking her by the ankles. Maybe she's been quiet about the wrong things. Maybe it's time to be loud. In this powerful novel that explodes the stigma around child sexual abuse and leavens an intense tale with compassion and humor, Kimberly Brubaker Bradley tells a story about two sisters, linked by love and trauma, who must find their own voices before they can find their way back to each other. - Publisher.
Shelved under
- Newbery honor
- New York Times reviewed
- Children's fiction
- Sisters, fiction
- Students, fiction
- Suicide, fiction
- Sex crimes, fiction
- Foster home care, fiction
- Juvenile
- award:Newbery_award
- Sisters
- Juvenile fiction
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ISBN 9781984815682 · Dial Books for Young Readers