Rules for Camouflage - by Kirstin Cronn-Mills (Hardcover)

About the Book

During her senior year of high school, neurodivergent Evvie navigates school, friendships, and her first love.

Book Synopsis

Atypical meets Every Last Word in this relatable and heartfelt coming of age story about a neurodivergent teen navigating school, friendships and first love.
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Evvie Chambers is doing her best to skate through the last month of high school to graduation. The only thing standing in her way is a biology report on foxes--and her teacher, Mrs. Audrey Dearborn. The same Mrs. Dearborn who's been a thorn in Evvie's side for years, refusing to acknowledge or accommodate her neurodiversity. Evvie would much rather be doing her report on Aretha, the octopus she cares for when volunteering at the Minnesota Zoo but deviating from the exact assignment is not allowed--and Mrs. Dearborn isn't going to make following the rules easy.

Evvie's only escape from high school hell is the Lair: a safe haven for kids whose brains need some time away. But when Mrs. Dearborn refuses Evvie's pleas to finesse the final report assignment to her strengths, and persistent bully Vandal McDaniel directs his harassment toward Lair members, Evvie finds herself more desperate than ever for stability and support.

When a shocking act of violence pushes the whole mess over the edge, Evvie, with the help of her friends and the others who love her, will have to figure out how to find her place in the wide world, while remaining true to herself.

Review Quotes

*"Intense and sometimes scary, but chock-full of heart and heady affirmation."--Kirkus Reviews

"Readers will root for Evvie's success and appreciate her deep connection to Aretha and the way the octopus, master of camouflage, teaches Evvie all the lessons she needs to live and love comfortably in her own skin."--School Library Journal

About the Author

Kirstin Cronn-Mills is a self-proclaimed word nerd. She learned to read when she was three (according to her mother) and she hasn't stopped since. Her grandmother and her father passed on their love of language to her, and that love became a love affair when she started writing poems in the sixth grade. She still writes poems, but now she focuses on young adult novels. She's pretty sure that teenagers are the funniest, smartest, coolest people on the planet. She lives in Southern Minnesota. She writes a lot, reads as much as she can, teaches at a two-year college, and goofs around with her son, Shae, and her husband, Dan.