For the Record

Twelve-year-old Justine's parents have recently divorced, and she and her little sister, Bea, now move back and forth between their two homes in Montreal. Their mother's anxiety shows up as a need to control everything, and she is convinced that their father and their beloved half-sister are a bad influence on the girls. She wants sole custody, so she asks Justine to help her collect evidence.

At first Justine accepts her mother's view of her father. She starts keeping detailed notes on what he does wrong: he doesn't stick to Bea's strict bedtime, he is late dropping them off at school, and he makes sandwiches with white bread. Then Justine invents an outright lie for her mother's court case, and she begins to question her mother's behavior and her own.

This middle-grade novel looks at parental alienation and how it affects children. It treats a hard subject gently, balancing it with moments of joy, love, and connection. Justine's clever, distinctive voice carries the story as she works through complicated family dynamics and gathers the courage to tell the truth, whatever the consequences.