Counting Thyme

by Melanie Conklin

Overview

Newbery-winning Rules meets Counting by 7s in this affecting story of a girl’s devotion to her brother and what it means to be home

When eleven-year-old Thyme Owens’ little brother, Val, is accepted into a new cancer drug trial, it’s just the second chance that he needs. But it also means the Owens family has to move to New York, thousands of miles away from Thyme’s best friend and everything she knows and loves. The island of Manhattan doesn’t exactly inspire new beginnings, but Thyme tries to embrace the change for what it is: temporary.

After Val’s treatment shows real promise and Mr. Owens accepts a full-time position in the city, Thyme has to face the frightening possibility that the move to New York is permanent. Thyme loves her brother, and knows the trial could save his life—she’d give anything for him to be well—but she still wants to go home, although the guilt of not wanting to stay is agonizing. She finds herself even more mixed up when her heart feels the tug of new friends, a first crush, and even a crotchety neighbor and his sweet whistling bird. All Thyme can do is count the minutes, the hours, and days, and hope time can bring both a miracle for Val and a way back home.

With equal parts heart and humor, Melanie Conklin’s debut is a courageous and charming story of love and family—and what it means to be counted.

From the Hardcover edition.

Customer Reviews

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780698411739
Publisher:	Penguin Young Readers Group
Publication date:	04/12/2016
Sold by:	Penguin Group
Format:	eBook
Pages:	320
Sales rank:	303,981
Lexile:	680L (what's this?)
File size:	840 KB
Age Range:	10 Years

About the Author

Melanie Conklin is a writer, reader, and all-around lover of books and those who create them. She lives in South Orange, New Jersey, with her husband and two small maniacs. Melanie spent a decade as a product designer and approaches her writing with the same three-dimensional thinking and fastidious attention to detail. Counting Thyme is her debut novel.

From the Hardcover edition.

Editorial Reviews

02/01/2016
Conklin makes a strong debut with this moving family story narrated by 11-year-old Thyme, whose five-year-old brother, Val, has been fighting cancer for nine months. When he is accepted into a drug trial, the Owens family leaves San Diego for New York City, where Thyme focuses on her secret plan to return home early. Conklin realistically depicts Thyme’s culture shock in Manhattan (apartment living, Laundromats, cold weather), homesickness for her grandmother and best friend, and the roller coaster of emotions that accompany a family member’s serious illness; equally strong is the exploration of middle-school friendship difficulties and the beginnings of a first crush. While a few of the characters (such as Thyme’s crush and the woman hired to cook and accompany her to and from school) are a little too good to be true, most develop in credible ways through their individual struggles. Conklin successfully weaves together the shifting dynamics of a loving family under crisis with the less dramatic but equally heartfelt turmoil of coming of age in a new environment. Ages 10–up. Agent: Peter Knapp, New Leaf Literary & Media. (Apr.)

Publishers Weekly

Praise for Counting Thyme:
A 2016 Nerdy Book Club Award Winner

“Debut author Conklin writes with a pitch-perfect middle-grade voice… A nice choice for middle-grade readers who enjoy heartfelt and emotional novels.”—Booklist

“Thyme’s remarkable perseverance and resilience will inspire readers of Conklin’s compassionate tale.”—Kirkus Reviews

“[A] sweet book that will strum the heartstrings of readers.”—School Library Journal

“Conklin successfully weaves together the shifting dynamics of a loving family under crisis with the less dramatic but equally heartfelt turmoil of coming of age in a new environment.”—Publishers Weekly

“Counting Thyme shows how a serious illness can tear the fabric of a family apart, and love can stitch it back together again. This deeply moving story of family, friendship, and belonging will settle deep in your heart and stay there long after the final page is read.”—Donna Gephart, award-winning author of Death by Toilet Paper and Lily and Dunkin

“Melanie Conklin brings New York vividly to life in Counting Thyme, a gentle story fueled by heart, hope, and beautifully developed characters.”—Pat Schmatz, award-winning author of Bluefish

From the Publisher

02/01/2016
Gr 4–7—When her five-year-old brother Val begins a clinical trial for cancer treatment at New York's Sloane Kettering Hospital, 11-year-old Thyme and her family leave their beloved San Diego home to move to the Upper East Side of Manhattan. Thyme embraces her role as the helpful middle sister, secretly saving slips of "time"—good behavior chits—so she can go home, all the while trying to avoid adjusting to New York or letting anyone at school know about Val's illness. With just the right pace of character development and a believable voice for the shy, awkward Thyme, Conklin takes her protagonist through a journey of connecting to others and learning to articulate her own needs. A constant but quiet tension runs throughout, both concerning Val's health and Thyme's emotional growth; readers continuously watch Thyme's reactions as other characters—including a cute boy who seems to understand about secrets—reach out to her. Sadness and hope are well balanced, and the family characters and interactions are tense but full of love. Most experienced readers will recognize several overused plot points (e.g., young girl befriends lonely, grumpy, elderly neighbor; immigrant housekeeper lends strength through her cooking) and wonder at this upper middle class white girl's lack of awareness or curiosity about her cultural and socioeconomic place in her new home. VERDICT A slow and sweet book that will strum the heartstrings of readers in much the same ways as Jo Knowles's See You at Harry's (Candlewick, 2012), Wendy Mass's A Mango-Shaped Space (Little, Brown, 2003), or Katherine Hannigan's Ida B: … And Her Plans to Maximize Fun, Avoid Disaster, and (Possibly) Save the World (Scholastic, 2004).—Rhona Campbell, Georgetown Day School, Washington, DC

School Library Journal

2016-01-20
Her younger brother's critical illness and a transcontinental move create upheaval in 11-year-old Thyme's life. In the nine months since her brother, Val, was diagnosed with cancer, Thyme's family life has been in turmoil. Her family's relocation to New York from California, for a new treatment to prevent the recurrence of Val's cancer, leaves Thyme feeling conflicted. Conklin sympathetically addresses Thyme's struggles to reconcile her longing to return home with her growing awareness of the significance of Val's new treatment. While depicting the complexity of the family members' reactions, from older sister Cori's increasing rebelliousness to their mother's distracted preoccupation, Conklin also reveals their unwavering support for Val. Despite her determination to remain aloof, Thyme soon becomes attached to her life in New York. She joins work on the school's spring performance and develops fledging friendships, including one with Jake, who she learns has also experienced grief. Thyme's efforts to cope with the constant uncertainty and her feelings of insignificance in light of Val's health issues illuminate the emotional impact a sibling's serious illness has on the family. Although Thyme may feel invisible next to Val's illness, when a medical crisis occurs, she realizes her vital importance to her family. Though Thyme and her family appear to be white, her classroom is realistically diverse. Thyme's remarkable perseverance and resilience will inspire readers of Conklin's compassionate tale. (Fiction. 10-14)

Kirkus Reviews