This book consists of letters from the main character, Leigh Botts, to his favorite author, Boyd Henshaw, beginning when Leigh was in the second grade. The bulk of the letters are when he is 10 years old and dealing with things like his parents divorce, being the new kid at school, having someone steal his lunch, a dad that doesn't always follow through. He writes to his favorite author who replies and he seems to turn to him as a father figure for advice. He questions his mom about the divorce. He starts to question if he was the reason for the divorce. He thinks no one notices him. In the end, his dad comes back, asks him mom if there is a chance and when mom says no because she was tired of not being able to count on him, Leigh seemed to understand. He knew it wasn't because of him, it wasn't because his parents didn't love each other, they just didn't fit together anymore.
This book is great for any kids struggling with not fitting in, feeling isolated, coping with new family arrangements. It shows how writing about things can help a person through those difficult times. Any person can write and can write about anything, it doesn't always start as "Dear Diary". I liked how this book starts out showing his letters being very short from the second grader who really licked his books to the longer more involved letters of the sixth grader.
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