Gr 3–7—Agnes is required to go through confirmation with her church, but what if she doesn't know what she
believes? This short but powerful novel compares Agnes's growing knowledge of opossums with her ability to think
for herself. A quick but deep dive into critical thinking and helping others do the same.

Agnes is a deeply thoughtful and creative girl who lives with her mother, who is under the thumb of her conservative boss. Agnes and her best friend Mo write "shopping cart stories" together, but when Agnes helps her neighbor Gracy rescue an opossum playing dead in the road, she becomes interested in the opossum's point of view instead, and Gracy, an anthropologist, helps Agnes see the world in a new way and start to ask some big questions. Agnes puts that questioning to work in the confirmation class in her church, which her mom's boss' daughter Miranda also attends. When Agnes wears a "GOD IS A WOMAN" tank top - a gift from Mo - to school and gets in trouble, she thinks it was Miranda who reported her. But Agnes, Tya, and Jaclyn open up a real discussion with Miranda about their ideas of God, and help her stand up to her father.

An excellent story of thoughtful activism; Gracy is a wonderful guide for Agnes, and Agnes' mother supports her as well.

See also: Revenge of the Red Club

Quotes

What does it mean when a religion tells you a girl's most saintly act was to die? (18)

But it doesn't feel good just going along with stuff I'm not okay with. (22)

"What are you supposed to do when....When you're supposed to tell the truth, but telling the truth will cause problems?" (27)

"Isn't survival more about your ability to defend yourself against enemies?"
Gracy snorts. "A world history textbook might make you think that, but no species survives if it can't raise healthy babies." (42)

"Always remember...we can never understand the truth about something if we don't wanted what we're missing." (44)

Maybe some people have more power than I do, but that doesn't mean I don't have any. (53)

Why can't God be someone who encourages us to be who we are? (73)

Is faith like that really possible? Faith that comes from within yourself rather than from what people tell you to believe? (76)

"But just because things aren't as bad as they used to be doesn't mean you can't expect them to be better. The only way change happens is if we keep pushing for it year after year. Unraveling centuries of misguided assumptions takes lots of work." (105)

"How are you supposed to change when you're surrounded by people who don't want anything to change?" (125)

"Change is a long process. That defensiveness we feel when we're forced to see things in a new way? That feeling is the waking." (127)

Who benefits from us bottling up our thoughts?
"But at least when you question stuff aloud, it lets other people know they're not alone." (Jaclyn, 130)

"I don't picture a specific thing. I've just always done what my grandmother does. In my head, I replace the word God with the word love." (Tya, 131)

"The little things matter." (Tya to Miranda, 141)

Because sometimes you need to let yourself feel anger to remind yourself that things shouldn't stay the way they are. (146)

"Sometimes it takes a while before people are are up for seeing things in a new way." (149)

"You know, when I think of God, I imagine an enormous, invisible fabric connecting everyone, the threads weaving through each one of us." (Gracy, 158) ( )