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niche's review against another edition
emotional
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
3.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Bullying and Homophobia
Minor: Racism and Religious bigotry
library_kb's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
I really enjoyed this middle grade book. It features a really strong friendship between boys, celebration of nerdiness, music and more and an adventure that hits a few snags along the way. I though the characters, dialogue and events were really realistic to middle school. However, do be aware there is a lot of bullying related to homophobia, which is challenged, but still present.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Homophobia and Bullying
rahscake's review against another edition
4.0
There were a lot of great things happening in this book.
Boys sharing feelings - honestly makes this book a winner for me.
Having read a book the MC reads, I was thrilled, as I hope my son will also read that book.
Trying to flip some common held beliefs about gender and racial stereo types is a tall task for any book, even more so for those written for middle graders, so this one held it's own and helped the boys stay true to themselves. I hope my son will one day have a friend that will plan a quest with him and also make him know he'd be missed if they were going on diverging paths.
Boys sharing feelings - honestly makes this book a winner for me.
Having read a book the MC reads, I was thrilled, as I hope my son will also read that book.
Trying to flip some common held beliefs about gender and racial stereo types is a tall task for any book, even more so for those written for middle graders, so this one held it's own and helped the boys stay true to themselves. I hope my son will one day have a friend that will plan a quest with him and also make him know he'd be missed if they were going on diverging paths.
audreylee's review against another edition
emotional
inspiring
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Finally! A book about true friendship between young boys. I really wish there would have been a more positive resolution for the young bullies. There was so much negativity around being "gay" and so many sexist and racist sayings but this wasn't developed at all...just dropped into conversation frequently.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying
Moderate: Racial slurs, Sexism, and Homophobia
lhmccar's review against another edition
emotional
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
lilradridinghood's review against another edition
hopeful
reflective
relaxing
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying
Moderate: Homophobia and Racism
Minor: Racial slurs
shayemiller's review against another edition
5.0
Matt and Eric are the best of friends. But when they discover that Eric will be moving away, they decide to pull off a sneaky jaunt to a comics convention while their school is on a field trip to a nearby amusement park. Over the course of this story, a number of modern issues are addressed, like racism, sexism, bullying, and homophobia. For example, Matt plays the flute/piccolo, so some boys make fun of him for playing a “girl instrument.” They also make fun of him for reading Two Naomis, which they’re claiming is a “girl book.” The bullies also refer to Matt as “Chicken Chow Mein” and his female friend as “Sky Ho.” Due to the boys’ close relationship, they’re mistaken as a romantic couple on more than one occasion, but they don’t let that prevent them from remaining close and talking about the implications of the claims. Y’all, EVERYONE needs a friend like Eric! He’s smart. He’s loyal. And his quick wit and sarcasm gave me the giggles. Why am I not hearing more about this book?! Please give me more stories with sweet, misunderstood, dorky boys who aren’t scared of meaningful, male friendships!
For more children's literature, middle grade literature, and YA literature reviews, feel free to visit my personal blog at The Miller Memo!!
For more children's literature, middle grade literature, and YA literature reviews, feel free to visit my personal blog at The Miller Memo!!
imstephtacular's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.5
This was a great look at tough topics through the eyes of young characters. The issues were relevant (racism, sexism, toxic masculinity, identity) and were explored in a realistic way
Content Warnings
Moderate: Bullying and Racism
iamrainbou's review against another edition
3.0
Mix feelings about this one, I don't think the story was quite successful.
For starters, the synopsis is very misleading. The whole convention that mentions? It doesn't happen until the last 80 pages of the book. That doesn't mean is terrible, but if I have known more about this book, I would probably haven't picked it up.
The story follows two boys that are best friends while they navigate middle school and band and bullies. They're quite close and not scared of showing affection and love, so of course, bullies have a great time calling them queer and gay. For a book that promises to be about boy friendship and toxic masculinity, there's a lot, and I mean A LOT of homophobia. And sure, it's called out and challenged, but honesty, it's also exhausting to read about. Because here's the thing, they are not queer themselves so the story centers homophobia around straight boys?
Here is where I think Mike Jung wasn't successful, stories about friendship and toxic masculinity and challenging homophobia in society are so important. I agree. But I don't understand the point of a book that revolves around bullies being homophobic when the characters are not gay? It feels quite insulting, to be honest. Yes, the book tackles other themes but it's overwhelmed (or at least, I was overwhelmed) by the amount of homophobia in almost every single chapter. The whole climax of the story is a gay character being outed, a side character, and a character that I had a lot of trouble with.
This boy is one of the bullies and I hate this trope, the bully is homophobic because they're queer themselves. Having internalized homophobia doesn't excuse terrorizing others and I feel like this trope always tries to sympathize with the bully and NOT HERE FOR IT. And it was especially hard in this book because he's just a secondary character and being the Worst, while the straight boys were the ones confronting the homophobia?
As I said, I just feel super weird about the whole book and with a lot of conflicting feelings. I don't know, maybe I just need to sit down for a while and think about this story.
ARC was provided by Levine Querido in exchange for an honest review.
For starters, the synopsis is very misleading. The whole convention that mentions? It doesn't happen until the last 80 pages of the book. That doesn't mean is terrible, but if I have known more about this book, I would probably haven't picked it up.
The story follows two boys that are best friends while they navigate middle school and band and bullies. They're quite close and not scared of showing affection and love, so of course, bullies have a great time calling them queer and gay. For a book that promises to be about boy friendship and toxic masculinity, there's a lot, and I mean A LOT of homophobia. And sure, it's called out and challenged, but honesty, it's also exhausting to read about. Because here's the thing, they are not queer themselves so the story centers homophobia around straight boys?
Here is where I think Mike Jung wasn't successful, stories about friendship and toxic masculinity and challenging homophobia in society are so important. I agree. But I don't understand the point of a book that revolves around bullies being homophobic when the characters are not gay? It feels quite insulting, to be honest. Yes, the book tackles other themes but it's overwhelmed (or at least, I was overwhelmed) by the amount of homophobia in almost every single chapter. The whole climax of the story is a gay character being outed, a side character, and a character that I had a lot of trouble with.
This boy is one of the bullies and I hate this trope, the bully is homophobic because they're queer themselves. Having internalized homophobia doesn't excuse terrorizing others and I feel like this trope always tries to sympathize with the bully and NOT HERE FOR IT. And it was especially hard in this book because he's just a secondary character and being the Worst, while the straight boys were the ones confronting the homophobia?
As I said, I just feel super weird about the whole book and with a lot of conflicting feelings. I don't know, maybe I just need to sit down for a while and think about this story.
ARC was provided by Levine Querido in exchange for an honest review.
mxrumphius's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Minor: Racism, Racial slurs, Homophobia, and Bullying
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