From the Desk of Zoe Washington

From the Desk of
Zoe Washington
by Janae Marks

From the publisher:
"Zoe Washington isn’t sure what to write. What does a girl say to the father she’s never met, hadn’t heard from until his letter arrived on her twelfth birthday, and who’s been in prison for a terrible crime?

A crime he says he never committed.

Could Marcus really be innocent? Zoe is determined to uncover the truth. Even if it means hiding his letters and her investigation from the rest of her family. Everyone else thinks Zoe’s worrying about doing a good job at her bakery internship and proving to her parents that she’s worthy of auditioning for Food Network’s Kids Bake Challenge.

But with bakery confections on one part of her mind, and Marcus’s conviction weighing heavily on the other, this is one recipe Zoe doesn’t know how to balance. The only thing she knows to be true: Everyone lies."

I really enjoyed this book because it was sweet and very readable, but also because it made me think and research.  I love it when books do that!  To me, this book is first and foremost a story of forgiveness.  Zoe is very mad at her next-door neighbor/best friend Trevor.  For quite some time in the book, we have no idea why she is mad at him.  Even her parents and grandma don't know and wonder what happened.  All they know is how upset and sad she is about it.  Trevor, himself, has no idea what he has done and tries to still be friends with her but Zoe won't have anything to do with him.  At one point her mother tells her,

"You're the one holding all this pain inside of you, which hurts you more than it hurts Trevor.  If you can forgive him, it might help you let go of the pain.  And you'll get your friend back.  It's a win-win."  

When Zoe finally tells Trevor why she is so mad and he apologizes, she has this insight:

"But it was like when you drew something in pencil and then tried to erase it - the pencil lines would mostly go away, but sometimes the indent would still be there, so you could sort of see what had been erased.  That's how Trevor's apology felt - like he was trying to erase my pain by saying he was sorry, but he couldn't make it all disappear."

Then later she has this insight:

"Maybe the pencil marks couldn't be erased, but at some point you could decide to turn to a new page."

I love that!  And what makes it even more interesting is that juxtaposed on Zoe and Trevor's story is the story of how Zoe's mom can't forgive Zoe's biological father.  He is in prison for murder, but continues to declare his innocence.  I love the things this book teaches about forgiveness!  I appreciated the supportive family that didn't always agree but always loved (although I had grave misgivings about a grandma going behind a mother's back, even though it was done in love).   

I also love how timely this book is and welcomed learning more about how POC (and particularly MEN of color) are wrongly imprisoned far more often than white men.  I had heard about The Innocence Project, but enjoyed learning more and studying more after I finished reading.  

I think this is a wonderful middle grade novel that was both entertaining and educational.  

Suggested Ages:

Publisher's Weekly - Ages 8-12

School Library Journal - Grades 4+