FOREST OF READING - Red Maple Suggested Reading List, 2026

Can best friends Aviva and Maddy survive the hardest year of their lives without each other?

Twelve-year-olds Maddy Li-Quinn and Aviva Adelman were born on the same street and have been inseparable ever since. The two are innately connected through their love of the arts: Aviva is passionate about poetry and writing, and Maddy is a gifted violinist. However, over the course of a painful year, very different family struggles drive the two girls apart. Maddy encounters violence in the home, and Aviva's baby brother faces a difficult diagnosis.

To cope with the stress, Aviva's mother suggests she write a book about her friendship with Maddy. In an attempt to heal through the written word, Aviva becomes the funny, feisty protagonist of her own book. Reflecting back on the past year, Aviva realizes that she, too, has made many mistakes along the way.

Last Year With Maddy draws on the author's personal experience with loss and recovery.

Read the first two chapters!

"[B]ittersweet ... In the tender novel Last Year with Maddy, best friends grow apart and find their way home again." -- Foreword Reviews

"This book has heart, and its emotions will touch the hearts of young readers. The author does a masterful job of blending Aviva's family and friend issues, and young readers will be shown the world of autism from a different perspective." -- Mark Buxton, YA Book Central