Many Points of Me - by Caroline Gertler

About the Book

Book Synopsis

"Sensitive and thoughtful--a story about loss, friendship, and the beauty of self-discovery."--Rebecca Stead, Newbery Medal-winning author of When You Reach Me

When Georgia finds a secret sketch her late father--a famed artist--left behind, the discovery leads her down a path that may reshape everything holding her family and friends together. Caroline Gertler's debut is a story about friendship, family, grief, and creativity. Fans of Rebecca Stead's Goodbye Stranger, Dan Gemeinhart's The Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise, and E. L. Konigsburg's From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler will find a new friend in Georgia.

Georgia Rosenbloom's father was a famous artist. His most well-known paintings were a series of asterisms--patterns of stars--that he created. One represented a bird, one himself, and one Georgia's mother. There was supposed to be a fourth asterism, but Georgia's father died before he could paint it. Georgia's mother and her best friend, Theo, are certain that the last asterism would've been of Georgia, but Georgia isn't so sure. She isn't sure about anything anymore--including whether Theo is still her best friend.

Then Georgia finds a sketch her father made of her. One with pencil points marked on the back--just like those in the asterism paintings. Could this finally be the proof that the last painting would have been of her?

Georgia's quest to prove her theory takes her around her Upper West Side neighborhood in New York City and to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, which was almost a second home to Georgia, having visited favorite artists and paintings there constantly with her father. But the sketch leads right back to where she's always belonged--with the people who love her no matter what.

Review Quotes

"Sensitive and thoughtful--a story about loss, friendship, and the beauty of self-discovery." -- --Rebecca Stead, Newbery Medal-winning author of When You Reach Me

"Sixth grade for Georgia Rosenbloom means she is finally eligible for the huge NYC art competition of her dreams--but it also means friendship breakups, a deep secret, and eventual self-realization. . . . Like an impressionist painting, Gertler's novel provides splashes of color ultimately revealing the emotions, drama, and truths of tween life. . . . Gertler's vivid word choice details color and the senses, creating an authentic and relatable tween girl voice tinged with the perspective of a budding artist." -- School Library Journal (starred review)

"It's been two years since Georgia's dad passed away, and her life still feels far from normal. . . . . Gertler's debut . . . blends art history and artistic expression with Georgia's soul-searching and personal growth. . . . Satisfying." -- Booklist

"After her father's death, an 11-year-old girl struggles to find her true self. . . . Georgia's genuine, first-person narration exposes her loss, jealousy, guilt, and gradual realization that 'all the different parts of me have been put back together in a new way.' . . . A realistic, poignant exploration of loss, friendship, and self-discovery." -- Kirkus Reviews

"It's been over a year since Georgia's famous artist father died, but she still desperately misses him, to the point where she's struggling with her own art . . . Then she spots possible clues in her father's sketches and paintings that he was planning to paint a big new work about her, and she's determined to put the pieces together . . . The blend of art and mystery in Manhattan . . . [will] likely appeal to lovers of Tucker's All the Greys on Greene Street." -- Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books