Max Plink’s teeth seem to be the cause of most of her problems. Her severe overbite requires expensive, painful orthodontia—including her new headgear, or “jawbreaker”—and the frightening potential of double jaw surgery down the road. The expense is straining her family’s already stretched-thin finances; her parents fight over money, and her dad drinks too much. Max’s younger sister, Alexis, joins the bullies at school in relentlessly tormenting Max, calling her Bucky Beaver and worse. To top it all off, a local journalism competition for junior high students, which Max has long hoped to win, decides to accept only video entries, not essays, and Max is loath to appear onscreen. Amid the chaos she finds comfort in a blog written by a young man who chronicled his own experience with double jaw surgery—and the bullying that preceded it—and a lightbulb goes on. For her application, Max will report on bullying in schools. And, if she’s brave enough to wear it in the video, surely her headgear will make an impact. While Max’s jawbreaker is the titular topic, it turns out it’s not the root of her problems. Unflinching in its depiction of a host of challenges that can stem from intergenerational trauma, toxic family dynamics, and poverty (including lack of access to technology needed for schoolwork), this novel ends on a high note as Max and her family (white) commit to communicating, seeking help, and being kinder to one another. (Ages 8-12)