Last Year With Maddy
The world of autism shown from a different perspective by critically acclaimed author Anna Rosner
Published by Great Plains Publications and available in paperback and e-book worldwide
Can best friends Aviva and Maddy survive the hardest year of their lives without each other?
Twelve-year-olds Maddy Li-Quinn and Aviva Adelman were born on the same street and have been inseparable ever since. The two are innately connected through their love of the arts: Aviva is passionate about poetry and writing, and Maddy is a gifted violinist. However, over the course of a painful year, very different family struggles drive the two girls apart. Maddy encounters violence in the home, and Aviva’s baby brother faces a difficult diagnosis.
To cope with the stress, Aviva’s mother suggests she write a book about her friendship with Maddy. In an attempt to heal through the written word, Aviva becomes the funny, feisty protagonist of her own book. Reflecting back on the past year, Aviva realizes that she, too, has made many mistakes along the way.
Last Year With Maddy draws on the author’s personal experience with loss and recovery.
Last Year with Maddy: Rosner, Anna: 9781773371498: Books – Amazon.ca
“This book has heart, and its emotions will touch the hearts of young readers. The author does a masterful job of blending Aviva’s family and friend issues, and young readers will be shown the world of autism from a different perspective.” – YA Books Central
“Original, exceptional, and a fun read from start to finish… Last Year With Maddy draws upon author Anna Rosner’s own personal experience with loss and recovery [which] gives the story an impressively exceptional storytelling quality….unreservedly recommended for middle school and community library Contemporary Fiction collections for young readers ages 9-12.” – Midwest Reviews
About Anna
Anna Rosner, PhD, is the award-winning author of two hockey biographies for young readers published by Great Plains, as well as short fiction, scholarly articles and essays. Anna’s historical novel,
Eyes on the Ice (Groundwood Books), is a Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection and was short-listed for six awards, including the 2025 Geoffrey Bilson Award for Historical Fiction. Anna’s fourth book,
Last Year with Maddy (Great Plains), was published in April of 2026.
Anna is the director of the Indigenous literary project Books with Wings, which has provided 25,000 brand-new books and thousands of personal letters for children living on isolated reserves. She is a 2026 recipient of the Governor General’s Meritorious Service Medal for this work.
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