It was also good to be able to see how she acted around other people, especially family members who knew how ill she was. Being 12, she has hormones all over the place, crushes on boys (or one boy in this case) and is trying to find the confidence to be who she really is around everyone else. I also really enjoyed Mira’s friendship with her wise, kind writing teacher Pat Print, and her relationships with her siblings, parents and best friend Millie. Mira does have secrets - her beloved Nana Josie is dying, she's drifting away from her best friend, and she can't stop thinking about mysterious, confident Jide Jackson, who is definitely keeping some secrets of his own.

Artichoke Heart tells the story of a time that changes Mira forever as she begins to step out of her childhood shoes and walk other paths. I wasn't expecting this to be such a coming of age novel, but I'm so glad that it was - I was very impressed and will certainly be reading more by the very talented Brahmachari in the future.It's total innocence and they are both SO cute around each other - particularly when they sent all the text kisses to each other. I believe that this book shows that everyone has their secrets and that some of those secrets have been bottled up inside of them for as long as they remember. Josie is so full of life, even as her days draw to an end, painting her own coffin in bright colours in preparation for her funeral.

Definitely a middle school book about a half Indian-half Jewish 12-year-old girl growing up in England with her dying free-spirited grandmother. Mira Levenson starts a journal after signing up for a writing class with the appropriately named Miss Print.Because the reader is made aware early on that Nana Josie is dying and will die by the end of the book, her death is less traumatic. Anyway, it was a sweet story and the relationship between her and her grandmother was very nice (and I liked seeing a sympathetic representation of a hospice in a kids story). I think that it was very genuine in expressing the troubles of Mira's family as her Nana Josie fights her illness. There are so many other little side stories with the secondary characters that, even though subtle, are so heart-wrenching.