Pluto Timoney is 13 and has just been diagnosed with depression and anxiety. Her divorced mother, who inspired her love of astronomy, wants to help but isn’t sure how, and is also busy trying to keep the family pizza restaurant afloat. Pluto’s father wants her to move in with him in New York City, where he feels his money can give her better care, but that’s not what Pluto wants. She comes up with a plan to become her old self again, agreeing to see a tutor and a therapist. Yet she still often feels like there’s a black hole on her chest and is awkward around the old friends who knew her before her diagnosis.
When she makes a new friend, Fallon, whose family owns a fried dough stand on the same New Jersey boardwalk as the pizza restaurant, she develops a crush on her, even as Fallon offers a plan of her own for self-realization.
Pluto struggles to find her orbit among the pull of other people’s expectations of her, her own expectations of herself, and the reality of who she is. Author Nicole Melleby doesn’t settle for simple answers but ultimately gives us ones that feel satisfying and true to the characters. While the theme of living with depression forms the major thread of the book, the story itself is far from somber, with complex characters and a compelling narrative. An older two-woman couple also figure prominently, a nice nod to the importance of queer role models. This is another winning tale by the always insightful and readable Melleby.
