THIS BOOK TAKES PLACE IN MY TOWN! The reason this is so incredibly exciting is that I live in a TINY town at the top of a mountain in Arizona. A town that nobody outside of the state knows about, and even inside the state, it’s iffy. When I read the book blurb and saw that this story takes place in Show Low, Arizona, my jaw dropped, and I immediately bought a copy.

This book is so much FUN! It’s a novel in verse, so any middle-grader can get through it in no time flat. Plus, it deals with an issue that most kids struggle with: screen addiction.

Hertz is always on a screen of some kind. He can’t live without a phone and access to his gaming devices. The internet? Required for life. So, when he’s forced to spend the summer with his great-uncle in the tiny town of Show Low, he is devastated to discover that he’s living in a trailer park with no Wi-Fi and not even a TV.

Of course, Hertz learns that there’s more to life than screens and their snazzy, swift distractions. He makes friends (and enemies) and learns how to live an analog existence—and like it.I love the theme, and I enjoyed the free-verse format. Lots of fun play on words and vivid imagery.

Is the book faithful to the real-life location? I thought so! Purvis does a great job of portraying the quirky local businesses that we have. I can see the pancake house as a sort of Darbi’s. The description of the Chamber of Commerce is spot on. And I love Pops. He’s an overly patriotic elder, which we have in spades ’round here—we COVER the mountain in American flags for all the patriotic holidays. If you don’t believe me, just visit on July 4. We have our share of shady pawn shops, too, although they’re far outnumbered by dollar stores. We have more dollar stores and thrift stores per capita than anywhere else I’ve ever been.

On the flip side, our cops are mostly nice, and we don’t host an annual scavenger hunt, even though we totally should.

Disclaimer. I don’t actually live in Show Low. I’m in Lakeside. (Not Pinetop either.) If you live here, this is an important distinction, but if you don’t live here, it makes no difference whatsoever.

Content warnings: None