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What I Carry

Is What I Carry Worth Reading?

by Jennifer Longo

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Seventeen-year-old Muir has spent her life cycling through Washington State foster homes, keeping to herself and carrying only what fits in a single bag — her system for surviving without getting attached. Her final year of foster care before ageing out of the system lands her with a family unlike any she's known, and slowly, terrifyingly, she begins to let people in. Jennifer Longo writes with extraordinary restraint and emotional precision, making the small moments of connection feel seismic. A quiet, devastating novel about what we carry and what we're allowed to put down.

Ada Brief

AI reading intelligence

Hushed and heartbreaking — Longo earns every moment of hope this book so carefully builds toward.

Ada
Spotlight·1:02

The Weight of Letting Someone In

Muir has spent years perfecting the art of not needing anyone — moving through fourteen foster homes with one duffel bag and a strict rule: don't get attached. Jennifer Longo writes about self-protection with such tender precision that you feel every wall Muir builds and every crack she tries desperately to ignore. This is the kind of book that asks a quietly devastating question: what if the most dangerous thing you could do is finally let yourself belong somewhere?


Book Details

Publisher
Random House Children's Books
Published
January 1, 2020
Pages
336
Language
English

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ISBN: 9780553537741

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Ada’s Score

4.3

Ada’s editorial score — not an aggregate of reader reviews.

Common Questions About What I Carry

Is What I Carry worth reading?
Hushed and heartbreaking — Longo earns every moment of hope this book so carefully builds toward. Ada rates it 4.3 out of 5.
How many pages is What I Carry?
What I Carry is 336 pages long — around 6–7 hours at an average reading pace.