Scan barcode
sandeestarlite's review against another edition
5.0
Stellar collection of diverse voices in short stories geared towards middle schoolers. Our kiddo, who has just started middle school, liked them all.
bethanymartin's review against another edition
3.0
This collection of short stories will appeal to older elementary and younger middle school students who will recognize many of the author's names.
Favorite stories:
"Sol Painting, Inc." by Meg Medina
"Secret Samantha" by Tim Federle
Favorite stories:
"Sol Painting, Inc." by Meg Medina
"Secret Samantha" by Tim Federle
kafrina12's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
4.0
ajsterkel's review against another edition
4.0
I liked this book a lot! If you’re searching for a good middlegrade short story anthology, I highly recommend this one. There are a few “meh” stories, and a few stories that try too hard to be profound, but there are none I disliked. A few of them made me smile, especially “Flying Lessons” by Soman Chainani and “Seventy-Six Dollars and Forty-Nine Cents” by Kwame Alexander. “Flying Lessons” is about a kid and his rich, eccentric granny who are trying to make friends on a beach in Spain. “Seventy-Six Dollars and Forty-Nine Cents” is about a kid who’s writing a memoir for English class, but he gives himself psychic mind-reading powers in his memoir. The best story in the anthology is “Secret Samantha” by Tim Federle. It’s about kids doing a Secret Santa gift exchange. The author perfectly captures that awkward preteen age where you feel confused and misunderstood all the time. This is an excellent book. Please read it!
Do you like opinions, giveaways, and bookish nonsense?
I have a blog for that.
Do you like opinions, giveaways, and bookish nonsense?
I have a blog for that.
ashleymcj's review against another edition
4.0
I picked this up as a recommendation on Twitter when I asked other ELA teachers for some relevant, diverse short stories for my students. I would say this definitely met that mark! Each story was refreshingly unique and featured some diverse experiences, be it through culture, family life, or identities.
As other reviewers have said, anthologies sometimes are pretty hit and miss, and that could be said for this one. A couple pieces felt inauthentic, corny, or even downright awkward to read. I may chalk this up to the intended audience, though, because I could see middle school students really enjoying the funkiness of these "corny" stories.
From a teacher's standpoint, this has definitely been worth the purchase for me. Our textbooks are too often loaded with stories that fit a specific kind of formula. I am excited to introduce some newer stories to my students!
As other reviewers have said, anthologies sometimes are pretty hit and miss, and that could be said for this one. A couple pieces felt inauthentic, corny, or even downright awkward to read. I may chalk this up to the intended audience, though, because I could see middle school students really enjoying the funkiness of these "corny" stories.
From a teacher's standpoint, this has definitely been worth the purchase for me. Our textbooks are too often loaded with stories that fit a specific kind of formula. I am excited to introduce some newer stories to my students!
markma's review against another edition
5.0
Flying Lessons and Other Stories is a short story anthology edited by Ellen Oh who is part of the We Need Diverse Books Campaign and with stories from Sherman Alexie, Jacqueline Woodson, Kwame Alexander, Walter Dean Myers, Meg Medina, Tim Tingle, Kelly J. Baptist , Soman Chainani, Matt de la Pena, Tim Federle, and Grace Lin. These are great authors who each contributed a story to make a total of 12 short stories. My sister read this book first and loved it, I was a bit skeptical of a short story anthology because I don’t usually read short stories, but I loved this one. Each story drew you in as a reader and made you become emotionally invested in the characters within a few pages. And each story told a perspective from different types of Americans and what it is like to be in their shoes. I think my two favorite stories was Secret Samantha and Soli Inc. I don’t know why, but Secret Samantha just stuck with me and I haven’t been able to stop thinking about that one since. It is about a girl named Samatha, who really wants to be called Sam, and how she tries to make friends. The Soli Inc. illustrated a side of racism that isn’t as talked about as others are. It is about a girl who goes to work with her Dad, but she sees a new side of him that she hasn’t seen before. I also loved the way that all the stories are written, each author wrote it in their own style. I have read books by some of the authors there, like Sherman Alexie and Walter Dean Myers, but it also inspired me to seek out the other authors who I haven’t read yet. This is a really great read, and you can read them all at once or one at the time. They are just amazing however you read these stories. I would recommend these stories to everyone and they are great for all ages.
heysierrat's review against another edition
4.0
This is a solid anthology of middle grade short stories. I think it would be a great addition to any ELA classroom.