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3.73 AVERAGE
3.73 AVERAGE
Giles, Gail. Girls Like Us. Candlewick Press, 2014.
Quincy and Biddy have both graduated from their high school's special education program, and they have been placed together to live in the above-garage apartment at a woman's home. Biddy is supposed to help around the house - cooking, cleaning, etc. - and Quincy has a job at a local supermarket. Circumstances provide Biddy with a safe space to reveal some harrowing secrets about her past while Quincy keeps a current secret safe as well. The girls become friends as they realize they have more in common then just being "speddies."
There are definitely not enough books featuring characters with disabilities, so I was glad to see this book containing two main characters who age out of the high school special education program and who are then placed in jobs where they can maintain some sort of independent life. Their lives are not portrayed as perfect and each girl tells the back story behind her placement in the special education program. Survivors of sexual assault will want to take gentle care as the story does involve a rape. Recommended.
Recommended for: teens
Red Flags: language, violence, one character is raped while another discusses a past rape, one character was violently abused as a child which caused her TBI (traumatic brain injury)
Overall Rating: 4/5 stars
Read-Alikes: [b:Speak|439288|Speak|Laurie Halse Anderson|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1310121762s/439288.jpg|118521], [b:Out of My Mind|6609765|Out of My Mind|Sharon M. Draper|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1347602096s/6609765.jpg|6803732],
Quincy and Biddy have both graduated from their high school's special education program, and they have been placed together to live in the above-garage apartment at a woman's home. Biddy is supposed to help around the house - cooking, cleaning, etc. - and Quincy has a job at a local supermarket. Circumstances provide Biddy with a safe space to reveal some harrowing secrets about her past while Quincy keeps a current secret safe as well. The girls become friends as they realize they have more in common then just being "speddies."
There are definitely not enough books featuring characters with disabilities, so I was glad to see this book containing two main characters who age out of the high school special education program and who are then placed in jobs where they can maintain some sort of independent life. Their lives are not portrayed as perfect and each girl tells the back story behind her placement in the special education program. Survivors of sexual assault will want to take gentle care as the story does involve a rape. Recommended.
Recommended for: teens
Red Flags: language, violence, one character is raped while another discusses a past rape, one character was violently abused as a child which caused her TBI (traumatic brain injury)
Overall Rating: 4/5 stars
Read-Alikes: [b:Speak|439288|Speak|Laurie Halse Anderson|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1310121762s/439288.jpg|118521], [b:Out of My Mind|6609765|Out of My Mind|Sharon M. Draper|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1347602096s/6609765.jpg|6803732],
I work in a school that has a strong focus on placement for children with special needs as they age out. I like that they continued to work with a social worker and weren't just shown as tossed out to fend for themselves. I liked that both girls had meaningful employment and some of that meaningful employment did include working with people / developing social skills(again that's a focus for the kids where I work).
I would have liked to see a happier ending for the girls. I did appreciate that they had to develop their own definition of family and learn to take care of each other... but .. Why did both girls have to experience sexual abuse? And the plot twist with the baby seemed thrown in there for no real purpose except to cause an argument with Ms. Elizabeth.
Short chapters, I could see this appealing to high interest / low vocabulary readers.
I would have liked to see a happier ending for the girls. I did appreciate that they had to develop their own definition of family and learn to take care of each other... but .. Why did both girls have to experience sexual abuse? And the plot twist with the baby seemed thrown in there for no real purpose except to cause an argument with Ms. Elizabeth.
Short chapters, I could see this appealing to high interest / low vocabulary readers.
Told in alternating first-person accounts, this short, taut novel packs an emotional punch. Biddy and Quincy have recently graduated from their high school’s special education program. At eighteen, these girls now need to learn how to hold a job, pay rent and begin to make a life for themselves. Through the intervention of their guidance counselor, Biddy and Quincy, never friendly at school, are paired to live together in a small apartment on the grounds of an elderly woman who needs help around the house and kitchen. Biddy is sweet and likable while Quincy is hard and suspicious of everyone. Each girl has her own learning issues but together they balance out each other…not that Quincy will soon admit. The story offers very brief narrations of the two girls, giving the listener unique perspectives into the same situation seen through two very different sets of eyes. While the surface of the story is about change and adaptation, the core is about overcoming horrific odds. Both girls were constantly made fun of as children and never given the love they needed from the adults in their lives. Additionally, Biddy was gang-raped in middle school and the subsequent pregnancy ended in adoption. When Quincy survives her own rape, Biddy is the unquestioning supporter that Quincy has never had. Narrators Lauren Ezzo and Brittany Pressley give contrasting voices to their characters, reminding the listener with each word just how different a journey these girls have faced.
Recommended grades 10 and up.
Recommended grades 10 and up.
This quick read follows the post-high school lives of Biddy and Quincy, two special-education students, who have aged out of the system and are forced to live their own. Their stories are told in alternating chapters, where their individual voices and stories can be heard. I instantly fell in love with these two girls and was shocked at some of their honest and raw emotions as they navigate a world that I take for granted so often.
Sweet book about two emerging adult girls who have special needs. Their personalities are very different, and their friendship develops over time.
Wow...this book...I started it today and sped through it, finishing it just moments ago. Girls Like Us is both heartwarming and heartbreaking.
Really intense and unique realistic fiction. I could not put this down and I felt like I read it in a blink of an eye. This novel will stay with you after you read it.
Girls Like Us by Gail Giles takes risks at portraying ‘street’ youth with emotional and physical disabilities. Biddy and Quincy have just graduated from high school after spending years being called “Speddies” in the school’s special education program. Placed in a safe home environment with an older woman and given jobs, both girls learn to work together and form a family with those around them. The girls overcome abuse and rape. Giles examines Biddy and Quincy to their core, and as Biddy sheds her protective, giant coat filled with candy bars, we know that these characters have grown. Chapters alternate with each girl’s distinct voice, which helps to show the unique ways in which we see and interpret the world. Sincere and slightly heartbreaking, teens that might not always fit in or have had to overcome hardships might enjoy this book. I would also recommend Girls Like Us for teens that may not be avid readers. The short, poignant chapters and colorful dialogue make it an easy, engaging read. I question if the book stereotypes disabled and foster care children, but I also see its inspirational value. Controversial books still open productive dialogue.
Oh my goodness, this book made me feel all the feels. It was very interesting to read the story from the point of view of the 2 main characters and I feel like I got a lot of insight from this book. I work at a high school so this hit close to home because it could have been a lot of my students in these situations...feeling the way these girls did. I'm not sure how interested I will be able to get my students in this book, but I will sure try to get them to read it! I think it would be good for them.
Woah. This book lived up to the hype for me. I'm really just impressed that this is some stand-out YA/NA crossover fiction, and that it grapples with issues those genres typically shy away from. Loved how multi-faceted the POV characters were.