★ “Will tug at the heartstrings and tickle the funny bone…This warm tale is definitely one for the keeper shelves. Highly recommended.”—School Library Journal, starred review
Thirteen-year-old Robbie leads a double life. It's just Robbie and his dad, but no one knows that his dad isn't like most parents. Sometimes he wakes Robbie up in the middle of the night to talk about dying. Sometimes he just leaves without telling Robbie where he’s going. Once when Robbie was younger, he was gone for more than a week. Robbie was terrified of being left alone but even more scared of telling anyone in case he was put into foster care. No one can know. Until one day when Robbie has to show the tough new girl, Harmony, around school. Their first meeting ends horribly and she punches Robbie in the face. But eventually, they come to realize that they have a lot more in common than they thought. Can Robbie's new friend be trusted to keep his secret?
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The Governor General’s Literary Awards (GGBooks) - Young People’s Literature Text | 2020 | Winner
Forest of Reading Red Maple Award | 2022 | Winner
CCBC Best Books for Kids & Teens, starred selection | 2021 | Commended
Ruth and Sylvia Schwartz Children’s Book Awards - Young Adult / Middle Reader | 2021 | Nominated
Saskatchewan Young Readers' Choice Awards - Snow Willow | 2022 | Winner
Rocky Mountain Book Award (RMBA) | 2022 | Short-listed
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★ “Will tug at the heartstrings and tickle the funny bone…This warm tale is definitely one for the keeper shelves. Highly recommended.”
“The King of Jam Sandwiches pulls us into the unforgettable friendship of hard-working Robbie and tough-as-nails Harmony in an exceptionally honest survival story that is also compulsively readable and emotionally gripping. Walters has written a heart-wrenching novel about what it is like to grow up amidst poverty and mental illness, one that speaks to contemporary young readers and offers them hope.”