Focused
Mayelana nale audiobook
From the author of the critically acclaimed Braced comes a story of a girl caught between her love of chess and her ADHD.
Clea can’t control her thoughts. She knows she has to do her homework ... but she gets distracted. She knows she can’t just say whatever thought comes into her head ... but sometimes she can’t help herself. She know she needs to focus ... but how can she do that when the people around her are always chewing gum loudly or making other annoying noises?
It’s starting to be a problem—not just in school, but when Clea’s playing chess or just hanging out with her best friend. Other kids are starting to notice. When Clea fails one too many tests, her parents take her to be tested, and she finds out that she has ADHD, which means her attention is all over the place instead of where it needs to be.
Clea knows life can’t continue the way it’s been going. She’s just not sure how you can fix a problem that’s all in your head. But to find a way to focus, that’s what she’s going to have to do.
In a starred review, Booklist called Alyson Gerber’s first novel, Braced, “a masterfully constructed and highly empathetic debut about a different kind of acceptance.” With Focused, she explores even further how, when life gives you a challenge, the best way to face it is with an open mind, an open heart, and the open support of the people around you.
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Alyson Gerber is the author of Braced. She is a graduate of the New School’s MFA in Writing for Children and lives in Brooklyn, New York, with her husband and daughter. Visit her at AlysonGerber.com and find her everywhere else at @AlysonGerber.
Cassandra Morris is an American voiceover actress, narrator, and writer. She began her career as a teenager, hosting the educational video series Real World Science, and then went on to work as a journalist, writing for newspapers as well as fashion and style blogs. She now works primarily as a voiceover artist, narrating and voicing characters for animation, anime shows, and audiobooks—for which she has earned several Earphones Awards.
