The World Divided by Piper

December 4, 2023
With complexity and warmth, Carter (Fifty-Four Things Wrong with Gwendolyn Rogers) centers a seventh grader with big plans for her future, none of which involve growing up. Gifted 11-year-old Piper Franklin, inventor of a new branch of mathematics that quantifies and explains emotions called Metaphorical Math, can’t wait to attend an elite summer program for winners of the Children’s Academic Decathlon. Piper has no doubt she’ll win—until her mother announces that it’s time to stop her puberty blocker treatment, which she began following her “precocious puberty” diagnosis at age six. Not only is Piper certain that experiencing periods will distract her from the decathlon, but she’s not eager to deal with the disrespect she’s witnessed adult women endure. As the competition looms, Piper must explain her desire for blockers without admitting her deepest secret: that she doesn’t want to grow up to be like her mother. Brainy, transgender ally Piper’s lack of context for gender-based discrimination sometimes feels forced, and subplots with friends from marginalized communities seem to only serve in helping Piper to understand and contextualize systemic oppression. Competition drama adds excitement to this relationship-driven story that’s interspersed with pages from Piper’s Metaphorical Math notebooks. Piper reads as white. Ages 8–12. Agent: Kate McKean, Howard Morhaim Literary.

Starred review from March 29, 2024

Gr 4-7-A sensitive, comprehensive look at growing up. Piper Franklin entered puberty when she was six years old. Hormone treatment slowed down the process, but now that she's 11, her mom and doctor want to discontinue it. Gifted Piper, seeing how hormones affect people and how women are treated differently than men, is determined to avoid puberty. Besides body development and gender disparity, a lot of topics are addressed in this story, such as family dynamics, race, LGBTQIA+ identity, and neurodivergence. Piper's first-person voice, complete with self-censorship to "be nice," according to her mom, is straightforward and believable as she struggles to understand. The dialogue among characters discussing sensitive issues is realistic and allows readers to see how they could handle similar conversations in their own lives. All readers might not relate to Piper's academic gifts or medical history, but everyone can relate to the embarrassing agony of a changing body. In the wrong storyteller's hands, Piper's narrative could have been a convoluted, didactic mess; but Carter deftly creates a world that is both unique and universal and, perhaps most importantly, applicable to young readers. VERDICT The book may face challenges because of its various themes, but kids will appreciate and need this content. Highly recommended.-Elissa Cooper

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Starred review from January 15, 2024
A seventh grader grapples with the onset of puberty. Eleven-year-old Piper Franklin, a gifted white girl, has taken puberty blockers since age 7 to delay precocious puberty. Now, her endocrinologist has cleared her to stop the injections. But Piper has no intention of entering puberty. Hormones and periods will only distract her from the upcoming academic decathlon, and she and BFF Tallulah--a girl from her gifted program who's Black and has ADHD--are determined to win. Piper's baby sister is distracting enough, frequently demanding Mom's attention. Worse, womanhood means being weighed down by myriad indignities, something Piper dubs the Wordless Chain and struggles to name. Even metaphorical math--Piper's attempt to explain emotions via mathematical concepts--can't make Mom understand her reluctance to start puberty, and tensions rise despite her stepfather's mediation. But as Piper develops a crush on Ivan, a Black trans boy from her support group for kids "having a tough time with puberty," and hangs with her supportive older half sister, growing up seems more inviting...except for that Wordless Chain. Language for said Chain comes extremely late, and readers will share Piper's increasing frustration as she struggles to articulate her dilemma. Ivan's and Tallulah's dialogue sparks eloquent insights into trans identity and neurodivergence (respectively), and Piper's interspersed notes on the metaphorical math of friendship and family are thought-provoking. Unfortunately, the resolution of one major plot point strains credulity and echoes the trope of a disabled character inspiring nondisabled people. Perceptive but uneven. (Fiction. 8-12)

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February 15, 2024
Grades 4-7 Piper Franklin, 11, is extraordinarily gifted; her idea of fun includes working on her treatise on metaphorical mathematics. She is looking forward to competing in the Children's Academic Decathlon for her state with her best friend, Tallulah. Then her mother tells her it's time to stop the puberty blockers she has been receiving since she was six years old when she developed "precocious puberty." Piper is aghast; she feels she's not ready to take a step closer to the adult world, and she doesn't want anything to stand in her way of winning the competition, one that no team of girls has ever won. Piper divides the world into things she can say and things she can't say, until she becomes fed up with being "nice" and speaks her mind. Piper is surrounded by a warm, wonderful, and well-rounded group of characters, such as her mother; big sister, Eloise; stepfather, Calvin; and friends Tallulah and Daisy. The novel explores serious themes and could easily be heavy-handed but Piper and Tallulah are so vibrant that they keep the story moving at a satisfying pace.

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