Better With Butter

Marvel is a young middle-school girl who struggles with anxiety.  She misses classes a lot due to her fears about everything!  Her stage fright becomes an issue because in order to pass sixth grade, she has to perform in a play!  She believes that is impossible until she rescues Butter, a baby goat, from the school bully.  She brings him home and they bond immediately.  But mom says they can not keep it, as it certainly belongs to someone.  Butter has allowed Marvel to live in a way in which she is not always afraid.  He has become her support animal.  She can't go back to being afraid all the time if she loses him.  And how can she pass sixth grade? I enjoyed the father's role in this story.  He is a service man who has returned home for a brief time on leave and teaches Marvel that even though he is afraid too, he has to move through it.  This book is on the Great Stone Face List for 2022-23.   (FIC PIO)