This book should come with a warning label: DO NOT READ IF YOU LOVE A CHILD. Because, ugh, what a heartbreaking punch to the gut. Very, very glad I read it at home and not, say, on the subway or something. 
 Very real characters you get to know and love quickly. Also nice to see the gay-kid storyline as just a regular thing, not This Is A Huge Deal And Everyone Is Freaking. It's just something that is, and I liked how that was handled.