Paula Chase Hyman

Middle Grade and Young Adult Author

So Done

They had always been best friends. Until that summer…

Jamila Phillips and Tai Johnson have been inseparable since they were toddlers. In Pirates Cove – a low-income housing project – Mila’s single father does everything he can to support his kids and his community. Tai lives across the street with her grandmother, who is the only family she needs.

When they are reunited after a summer apart, their friendship threatens to combust from the pressure of secrets, middle school, and the dance auditions for a new talented-and-gifted program.

Paula Chase’s middle grade debut is driven by universal themes of friendship, while exploring the issues facing many tweens. This memorable novel is perfect for fans of Ali Benjamin’s The Thing about Jellyfish and Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich’s and Audrey Vernick’s Two Naomis.

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Praise for So Done

Kirkus 2018 Best Children’s Book Selection

Best of the Best 2018 Chicago Public Library (Fiction for Older Readers)

A 2018 Fall Junior Library Guild Selection

Starred reviews: Kirkus, Publisher’s Weekly, School Library Journal

Chase’s middle-grade debut dazzles.
– Kirkus Reviews

VERDICT: A pitch-perfect look at changing adolescent relationships and resilience.
–Stacy Dillon, School Library Journal

While they have diametrically opposed personalities, both Mila and Tai are young women that readers will root for.
– Eboni Njoku, The Horn Book

The chapters alternate between the perspectives of Mila and Tai, allowing each distinctive character an authentic and complex voice as they navigate difficult issues facing many American preteens.
– Full Kirkus Review

Through successfully rendered dialogue, Chase (the Del Rio Bay Clique series) vividly conjures the triumphs, tensions, and worries percolating in the girls’ low-income neighborhood.
– Full Publishers Weekly Review