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4.17 AVERAGE
4.17 AVERAGE
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
love this book so much.....the little nods to the original play are so fun, the romance is cute, and it's just! so light and happy and sweet. literally could not stop smiling <3
This is a sweet story of an 8th grade girl, her 2 best friends, and the school play Romeo and Juliet. Mattie has always been a behind the scenes type of girl but the play gives her an opportunity to shine. It also makes her wonder why she had a crush on a boy last year and this year she seems to like the girl who is playing Juliet. I thought the potential crush was handled masterfully and shows the confusion she has as she tries to figure out who she is. I also liked how her friends handle the news and how a teacher shuts down a student for using unkind language towards gay people. And the English nerd in me loves the Shakespeare quotes and how the story follows parts of the play. I think it is a gentle story that will help kids understand themselves or their friends as many go through the middle school struggle of who they are and what they want to become.
funny
hopeful
medium-paced
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
This is veryyyy cute and necessary. There are not enough middle school books with LGBTQ+ rep. It handles the topic in an encouraging way. It presents a crush as a crush and instead of making it into a story about coming out or homophobia, it's a light-hearted story about crushes and friendship. Kids can read this and know it's okay to be unsure about your feelings and you don't need a label in middle school. And also that there are people who will be accepting of who you are.
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
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
I'm happy to be raising kids in a time when books like this can exist. It's completely age appropriate for elementary and middle school. It does a good job explaining the plot of Romeo and Juliet and it is a good story about an 8th grade girl discovering she can have crushes on boys and girls.
Finally! This is the middle grade about girls liking girls I've wanted for ages, and it was ABSOLUTELY LOVELY.
Aaaaaaaaaahhhh this was so cuuuuuuuuuute. Gosh there was so much to love, where do I start?
First, this story has the most adorable meet-cute ever. You really can't go wrong with flirting while one character is disguised as Darth Vader. The subsequent crush that our POV character develops on her schoolmate Gemma feels very natural and not at all overwrought. It builds up slowly, with Mattie just taking notice of little details about Gemma and experiencing unusual excitement whenever she gets to be around her or her name is mentioned. Many of us will be able to relate to that feeling that there was just something special about a brief interaction with someone, and Barbara Dee conveys that feeling really well.
She also really pulls off the whole Shakespeare thing. The story mirrors that of Romeo and Juliet just enough to be entertaining but without stretching the metaphor too far, and catching the occasional hints at the parallels between the two was really satisfying and amusing. I really appreciated the way Mattie grew and discovered herself through literature/theatre. Not only because it was really meta, but because these are such important tools for so many of us.
The book was very smartly written in general, and avoided pitfalls of shallow characterization. Even though the tensions of Mean Girls vs Losers and Jocks vs Nerds are brought up, no one slots neatly into those categories. Personally I was thrilled to see the lesson that some people just don't like you/aren't your friends, and that's neither the end of the world nor the central conflict of the book. You never do find out why the popular girl didn't invite Mattie to her party.
First, this story has the most adorable meet-cute ever. You really can't go wrong with flirting while one character is disguised as Darth Vader. The subsequent crush that our POV character develops on her schoolmate Gemma feels very natural and not at all overwrought. It builds up slowly, with Mattie just taking notice of little details about Gemma and experiencing unusual excitement whenever she gets to be around her or her name is mentioned. Many of us will be able to relate to that feeling that there was just something special about a brief interaction with someone, and Barbara Dee conveys that feeling really well.
She also really pulls off the whole Shakespeare thing. The story mirrors that of Romeo and Juliet just enough to be entertaining but without stretching the metaphor too far, and catching the occasional hints at the parallels between the two was really satisfying and amusing. I really appreciated the way Mattie grew and discovered herself through literature/theatre. Not only because it was really meta, but because these are such important tools for so many of us.
The book was very smartly written in general, and avoided pitfalls of shallow characterization. Even though the tensions of Mean Girls vs Losers and Jocks vs Nerds are brought up, no one slots neatly into those categories. Personally I was thrilled to see the lesson that some people just don't like you/aren't your friends, and that's neither the end of the world nor the central conflict of the book. You never do find out why the popular girl didn't invite Mattie to her party.