When we meet Nat­ty, a charm­ing, upbeat mid­dle school­er, her life is in major flux. She meets the chal­lenges of relo­cat­ing, start­ing a new school, and man­ag­ing parental tur­moil with a seem­ing­ly invin­ci­ble pos­i­tiv­i­ty — the kind that could stop an ele­phant stam­pede. Maybe being relent­less­ly pos­i­tive will pro­vide a solu­tion to all Natty’s prob­lems. But all the pep squads in the world can’t help her deal with her mother’s absence, her father’s depres­sion, or her best friend’s own woes. Her opti­mism isn’t enough to over­come all her uncer­tain­ties, appre­hen­sions, and the oth­er stres­sors that ado­les­cents face even while lead­ing the most rou­tine lives. Nat­ty slow­ly learns to con­front adver­si­ty with­out ignor­ing her pain, teach­ing read­ers some life lessons in the process. Nat­ty is the only Jew­ish girl in her new school, though her Judaism is less a dri­ving force in her life and more a part of the background.

Absolute­ly, Pos­i­tive­ly Nat­ty is a com­pelling, acces­si­ble sto­ry. Read­ers will sure­ly iden­ti­fy with Nat­ty and her expe­ri­ences com­ing of age.