Forget Me Not

Terry. Ellie. Forget Me Not. Feiwel and Friends, 2017.

Calli is in 7th grade and has started at a new school eleven times. Her mom has a habit of hooking up with a guy, dating for a brief period, then having a messy breakup where she packs everything into the car and hauls Calli to a new town to start over again. Calli also has Tourette Syndrome, and she has been warned not to explain this to her new teachers or classmates. Jinsong is Calli's neighbor and he likes her - possibly as more than a friend - but he's also student body president and very popular, so he isn't sure how/if he can stand up for her when the inevitable teasing starts.

Calli's chapters are told in verse, which makes this book a pretty fast read, and that fits with Calli's personality because she is interested in space but is also artistic. Jinsong's internal struggle between standing up for Calli at school and hiding his interest in her reads true and is perfect for this age group, too. The fact that Calli's mom hasn't taken the time to understand her condition and insists that she could just "not do it" when her tics occur rings true as well. The author states in a note at the end that she also has Tourette Syndrome, so this is an #ownvoices novel. I could see this book appealing to kids who enjoyed Wonder and also to those who like reading novels in verse. This is a much-needed addition to most library collections.

Recommended for: tweens
Red Flags: Calli is bullied quite a bit, mostly by the stereotypical Mean Girl in the story; it turns out this person also bullied Jinsong because of his ethnicity and that moment is described as well.
Overall Rating: 4/5 stars

Read-Alikes: Wonder, Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus, Absolutely Almost

The Losers Club

Clements, Andrew. The Losers Club. Random House, 2017.

Alec is the only sixth grader sent to the principal's office on the first day of school, and possibly the only student sent to the office for reading during class. When the principal and Alec's parents tell him he can't read during his classes, he sets up an after school club for silent reading. Hoping no one will join him and he can find some peace and quiet, he names it the Losers Club. Unfortunately for Alec, word spreads about his reading club and it becomes quite popular. Now he has to balance running a club with escaping into his beloved books.

This is an adorably cute middle grade book that is perfect for kids who love to read. It's funny, there's a great Disney-style ending, and there are plenty of good books mentioned throughout. I have only a couple of caveats:

1. Alec is far too self-aware to be a standard sixth grade student. He says things like, "Nina is Nina and Kent is Kent and I can't control anything about them; I can only control myself." This may be a true statement, but I'd be hard pressed to find an 11 year old who will self-talk that way. It's nice to see Alec model this and other positive traits, but it isn't very realistic.

2. I am a librarian, and in the end of this story Alec asks his club members to email him permission to look at their circulation records at the school library for a project. There is no way on earth that the school librarian A) keeps records like that, because that stuff gets erased unless the book is still checked out to the student and B) allows Alec access to those records. If the mystical records existed, I could see each of the kids getting their OWN record to give to Alec, but no way a librarian worth their salt is going to give patron information to a sixth grader, even a nice one like Alec.

Other than that, this is a cute, fun story that I'd recommend easily to kids who like to read or feel like they don't really fit in with their peer group.

Recommended for: middle grade
Red Flags: mild bullying, all of which is explained and apologized for by the end of the story
Overall Rating: 3/5 stars

Read-Alikes: The Island of Dr. Libris, Book Scavenger, Ban this Book!, Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library

Just Like Jackie

Stoddard, Lindsey. Just Like Jackie. HarperCollins, 2018.

Robinson lives with her grandfather in Vermont. She loves helping him in his auto shop after school, tapping maple trees with him to make maple syrup, and being the one to squeeze the cheese sauce into the mac'n'cheese. She's his right hand man. But Grandpa has been forgetting things and mixing up his words a lot. Robinson isn't sure what to do. She thinks she can take care of her grandfather, but who will take care of Robinson?

This book is beautiful and sweet and everything that you could want from a middle grade book. Robinson gets in trouble at school because she fights back when she's bullied, but when she and her tormentor are placed in a group together by the guidance counselor, she sees that there's more beneath the surface. Harold, who is Grandpa's assistant at the auto shop, is at home with his husband and their new baby, so Grandpa is left to run the auto shop alone when Robinson is in school. Grandpa is African American, but Robinson is biracial and very light-skinned, so they get a lot of raised eyebrows when they go out into the world. There is a satisfying, nearly Disney-esque happy ending to the story, and the scary bits aren't too scary for middle grade readers. Recommended.

Recommended for: middle grade
Red Flags: a few instances of bullying; Robinson and her fellow groupmates say "effing" a couple of times along with other mild swears like "crap" and "suck."
Overall Rating: 4/5 stars

Read-Alikes: The Someday Birds, The Benefits of Being an Octopus, Fish in a Tree

The Way the Light Bends

Jensen, Cordelia. The Way the Light Bends. Philomel Books, 2018.

Linc is the artistic sister. She loves photography, and her mind is always seeing things in motion and the way objects can capture a moment. Holly, Linc's sister who was adopted when Linc was just a baby, is the smart one. She is doing fantastically at school, is athletic, and constantly pleases their parents. Meanwhile, Linc's mom only ever seems to nag Linc and point out how she could be more like Holly if she just Tried Harder. Linc and Holly drift apart as Linc secretly applies to an elite art school and sneaks out of the house to go to classes, meanwhile trying to figure out how to convince her parents to let her pursue her dreams.

This is a novel in verse, and as such may appeal to teens who wouldn't otherwise tackle a book of this length. It reads quickly, and the poetic elements are appropriate as Linc is the narrator through the entire story. I have taught students like Linc, students who don't excel academically not because of lack of effort, but rather because their gifts lie somewhere beyond acadamia. I wasn't that surprised at the "big reveal" at the end of the story, but as I am not the target audience, I am guessing some teen readers may be surprised. I did appreciate how the reveal was treated, as well as the presence of Linc's best friend who is dating a girl. Her presence in the story is not a coming out plot or a place to discuss homophobia; rather, just like any other pair of best friends, Linc and her friend discuss break-ups and hookups and go on double dates, etc.

Recommended for: teens
Red Flags: one character steals his parents pot lollipops, which he and Linc then eat.
Overall Rating: 4/5 stars

Read-Alikes: Letting Go of Gravity; You'll Miss Me When I'm Gone; The Language Inside;

Damselfly

Prasad, Chandra. Damselfly. Scholastic Press, 2018.

Touted as a modern retelling of Lord of the Flies, Damselfly follows a group of private school students as their plane crashes on a remote tropical island with no civilization, no adults, etc. If you know the plot of Lord of the Flies, you know this one.

In spite of the diverse representation of characters and discussion of race issues, bullying, etc., this book fell flat for me. The story was not intense enough to match the intense situation the teens were facing. There were times when the pace slowed to a plod. The dialog didn't match with the supposed age of these teens at all; they sounded more like young middle school students than upperclassmen.

The idea of retelling Lord of the Flies in a modern setting and tackling modern issues relevant to teens by using the story is a good one, but it isn't original with Damselfly; Libba Bray's Beauty Queens does the same thing, but does it in a much better way. This set itself up to be Beauty Queens without the humor, but it didn't work for me: too many weird plot holes or inexplicable character actions. That being said, teens who like "trapped on an island" type stories may enjoy this one.

Recommended for: teens
Red Flags: language, bullying, fat-shaming, racist language, violence
Overall Rating: 2/5 stars

Read Instead: Beauty Queens by Bray, The Island by Levez, I Am Still Alive by Marshall