# Smack Dab in the Middle of Maybe

**Author:** Jo Watson Hackl
**Grade range:** Grades 4–7
**Age range:** 9–12
**First published:** 2018
**Page count:** 236
**Genre:** Realistic Fiction
**ISBN-13:** `9780399557392`
**ISBN-10:** `0399557393`
**Canonical URL:** https://readinglist.school/book/smack-dab-in-the-middle-of-maybe
**License:** [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) — please credit ReadingList.school when citing.

## About this book

Eleven-year-old Cricket runs away to a Mississippi ghost town to find a hidden artwork her late father once described, surviving in the wild with only a stray dog and her wits. Jo Watson Hackl's lyrical grades 4-7 debut blends survival, art, and grief.

## Themes

- survival
- grief
- nature
- perseverance

## Where this book is assigned

### Battle of the Books (state reading programs)

- **recommended** · 4th grade · North Carolina — [source: NCSLMA Elementary Battle of the Books 2025-2026 (Grades 3-5)](https://school.teachingbooks.net/tb.cgi?lid=14871)
- **recommended** · 5th grade · North Carolina — [source: NCSLMA Elementary Battle of the Books 2025-2026 (Grades 3-5)](https://school.teachingbooks.net/tb.cgi?lid=14871)

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