Chronically Dolores

Gr 7 Up–Prodigious Van Wagenen’s first novel opens with a droll dedication: “For my people—the young, wry, and chronically ill. At least we’re in excellent company.” Villarreal’s own excellence is immediate because, despite being a story with so much going wrong—reputations, communication, friendships, families—she audibly ensures much more will go absolutely right. Fourteen-year-old Dolores Mendoza has interstitial cystitis. She got labeled “piddler” after a middle-school bladder accident. Then she lost her BFF. When she meets Terpsichore Berkenbosch-Jones, the new girl’s directness causes more jolting embarrassment. Terpsichore has autism spectrum disorder, her overbearing mother’s excuse for constant surveillance. The new friends (but, are they?) hatch a mutually beneficial plan involving reunion and freedom. Villarreal gleefully, convincingly voices bathroom reviews, un-Catholic confessions, revisionist telenovela scenes, and more. Van Wagenen cameos to share her experiences living with interstitial cystitis and autism.