New!
Reading Level: 2 - 3 • Interest Level: 5 - 8

If You Find This Letter

Available: New!
Author: Ona Gritz
Copyright: 2026
Specs: 5 1/2” X 8 1/4”, 200 pages, Hardcover
HC ed.: 9781978598379 • $25.80 | $19.40
eBook: 9781978598393 • $25.80 | $19.40
Pbk. ed.: 9781978598386 • $16.35 | $14.20

Few things feel worse than being left behind by your best friends, but that’s what’s happening to thirteen-year-old Dani. She has far less freedom than they do when it comes to roaming their New York City neighborhood, thanks to her over-protective mom. Dani knows her mom has her reasons—including having lost her leg in an accident when she was Dani’s age. But it still doesn’t seem fair. Following an especially painful falling out with her friends, Dani finds herself wishing she could change her mom’s past, making life easier for both of them. Soon after, she wanders into an oddity shop where she discovers a letter in an old book. It’s from a girl named Mimi who is seeking a friend. The two begin leaving daily letters for each other in the book, growing close and connecting over losing their best friends. Some of Mimi’s sayings and experiences are very dated, but Dani manages to explain this away—until she can’t ignore the strange coincidences and odd references. Who is her mysterious new friend? Do her letters hold the clues Dani needs to heal her broken relationships, especially with her own mother? Or is she too late?

Featured on Children's Book Council's Hot Off the Press list!

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About the Author

Ona Gritz

Ona Gritz holds a master of arts in poetry from the creative writing program at New York University. She is the author of August Or Forever, a Reader’s Choice and Wishing Shelf finalist in middle grade fiction. Her writing has also appeared in The Guardian, The New York Times, Ploughshares, and Salon, among others. Ona’s earlier books include Geode and Tangerines and Tea: My Grandparents and Me, a Nick Jr. Family Magazine Best Alphabet Book of the Year and Scholastic Magazine Teacher’s Pick. She teaches creative writing to teenagers with disabilities through the Numberless Dreams Project. This is her first book for teen readers.