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No Fixed Address
288 pages
A heartfelt and anxious middle-grade journey about carrying adult-sized secrets and hoping for a trivia-powered miracle.
What it feels like
This earnest middle-grade story balances the warmth of friendship with the heavy, precarious reality of housing insecurity. The narrative moves at a steady pace, anchored by a trivia-loving protagonist whose quirky optimism shines even as his living situation grows increasingly desperate. Readers will feel the constant, underlying tension of keeping a massive secret from best friends and the looming fear of family separation. The prose is accessible and deeply empathetic, capturing the authentic voice of a twelve-year-old trying to solve adult problems with a game-show dream. It is a perfect fit for readers who gravitate toward grounded, real-world contemporary fiction that explores the resilience of kids, the complexities of loving but flawed parents, and the quiet power of community.
- Mood
- precarious
- heartfelt
- tense
- Tone
- earnest
- anxious
- warm
- hopeful
- Pace
- steady
- Themes
- housing insecurity · the weight of family secrets · the power of friendship · hope through trivia · growing up fast
- The writing
- Accessible and earnest, capturing the authentic, trivia-loving voice of a twelve-year-old navigating adult-sized problems.
- The arc
- Moves from the anxious burden of a heavy secret to a desperate, high-stakes grasp for salvation, culminating in an unexpected reality check.
- Who it's for
- Middle-grade readers who appreciate grounded, real-world stories about resilient kids facing tough family circumstances with the help of good friends.
Content notes
- housing insecurity
- homelessness
- fear of family separation
- financial stress
About the book
A middle-grade story about family, friendship, and growing up when you're one step away from homelessness.
Twelve-and-three-quarter-year-old Felix Knutsson has a knack for trivia. His favorite game show is Who What Where When; he even named his gerbil after the host. Felix's mom, Astrid, is loving but can't seem to hold on to a job. So when they get evicted from their latest shabby apartment, they have to move into a van. Astrid swears him to secrecy. He can't tell anyone about their living arrangement, not even Dylan and Winnie, his best friends at his new school. If he does, she warns him, he'll be taken away from her and put in foster care.
As their circumstances go from bad to worse, Felix gets a chance to audition for a junior edition of Who What Where When, and he's determined to earn a spot on the show. Winning the cash prize could make everything okay again. But things don't turn out the way he expects
Description from Open Library.
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