Merry-Go-Round is a realistic adolescent novella that looks at true problems young adults can face. The protagonist, Amy, is ten-year-old girl who meets a boy, Ben, of the same age at the hotel where her mother works. Amy and Ben become fast friends. Amy's mother is involved in an abusive relationship and Ben's mother is dying of cancer. Through the relationship formed between the children, they learn how to survive by sharing their difficulties and working them out. The realistic, troublesome situations faced by the main characters of Merry-Go-Round will help readers graduate smoothly on the next level of reading.