SAPL : The Thing I'm Most Afraid Of

Press release from the San Antonio Public Library:

Kristin Yourdon

17 August 2021

Set in Vienna, Austria in 1993, The Thing I’m Most Afraid Of by Kristin Levine is about twelve-year-old Becca, who is visiting her Dad for the summer. Her summer plans may sound exciting, but her severe anxiety makes a lot of everyday things very hard for her. Going through the metal detector at the airport makes her fear that she will get cancer, and eating eggs that are not fully cooked makes her sure that she will get salmonella poisoning. The only thing that helps calm her anxiety is when she writes in her Doomsday Journal the worst-case scenarios and how she will respond to them.

Once in Austria, Becca spends her days exploring Vienna with Felix, the shy son of her dad’s new girlfriend, and Sara, a nineteen-year old Muslim refugee from Bosnia. As she, Felix, and Sara spend more time together, they learn that they all have fears. Felix hides in books to avoid social situations with other people. Sara is afraid for her mother and younger brother, whom she left behind in war-torn Bosnia. With each others' encouragement, the three find ways to face their fears and a new family they never expected.

This press release was produced by the San Antonio Public Library. The views expressed here are the author’s own.