Dear Sweet Pea
Art by Alissa Levy and Design by Jenna Stempel-Lobell
Age range: 8-12 years
Audio narrated by: Phoebe Strole
ISBN 10: 0062473077
ISBN-13: 978-0062473073
“Dear Sweet Pea is a truly irresistible story about a family in flux, brimming with humor and heart.”
— Rebecca Stead, Newbery Award-winning author
Patricia “Sweet Pea” DiMarco wasn’t sure what to expect when her parents announced they were getting a divorce. She never could have imagined that they would have the “brilliant” idea of living in nearly identical houses on the same street. In the one house between them lives their eccentric neighbor Miss Flora Mae, the famed local advice columnist behind Miss Flora Mae I?
Dividing time between two homes is not easy. And it doesn’t help that at school, Sweet Pea is now sitting right next to her ex–best friend, Kiera, a daily reminder of the friendship that once was. Things might be unbearable if Sweet Pea didn’t have Oscar—her new best friend—and her fifteen-pound cat, Cheese.
Then one day Flora leaves for a trip and asks Sweet Pea to forward her the letters for the column. Sweet Pea happens to recognize the handwriting on one of the envelopes. What she decides to do with that letter sets off a chain of events that will forever change the lives of Sweet Pea DiMarco, her family, and many of the readers of Miss Flora Mae I?
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Advance praise for Dear Sweet Pea
★ ALA Booklist
“Murphy creates a wonderfully realistic portrait of tween life in her first middle-grade novel…. Sweet Pea is a treasure of a protagonist.”
★ Kirkus Reviews
“Endearing and funny… An excellent blend of eccentricity, humor, genuine sweetness, and mild drama.”
★ Publishers Weekly
“With gentle humor, ageless wisdom, and charming, genuine characters who represent a diversity of experiences, Murphy’s novel offers all the emotional highs and lows of pitch-perfect middle grade.”
Rebecca Stead, Newbery Award-winning author of When You Reach Me
“Dear Sweet Pea is a truly irresistible story about a family in flux, brimming with humor and heart.”