Felix is your typical middle school kid except for one little thing. He and his mom live in a van. It was supposed to be temporary, but as the months go by it becomes more of the norm. His mom Astrid has slumps and can't keep a job. Despite the fact that Felix has no fixed address or place to call home he is doing pretty well. He is enrolled in a French immersion school and has reconnected with his best friend. He even has a girl friend Winnie. The icing on the cake is the audition for his favorite game show. But living in a van is not the same as having a home and Felix has to deal with hygiene and food issues as well as his mom's increasingly questionable choices. 

There are not a lot of books that deal with homelessness in kids and this was a fantastic read. There are probably way more kids out there who find this as their way of life than we want to acknowledge. Felix and Astrid are not bad people, they have just fallen on hard times. Despite some of her choices, Astrid is a good mom and wants what is best for Felix. I thought this was a very realistic portrayal of what homeless families have to go through to keep clean and healthy. It also accurately portrayed the danger they face from others. I think my only quibble was the game show bit. It seemed a bit gimmicky and over the top that Felix would win a place on a national tv show, but it did act as a good way to get his story out to the people who needed to hear it and it lead to help for Astrid and Felix. For such a realistic story that was the one bit that seemed a little far-fetched.