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4.17 AVERAGE
4.17 AVERAGE
What an adorable book.
I'm pretty sure my book lists are becoming more and more LGBT+ themed and that's great because of how little there really is out there. When I think of Middle Grade LGBT, I can really only get a hold of Rick Riordan. This book is the first Middle Grade one I've read where the main protagonist is figuring out her sexuality and it works wonderfully.
I hope I see this book in school and helps encourage kids to believe that there sexuality is valid in the middle school years. They're told so often that they're too young to know who they're attracted to at that age and it's nice to see a book come out where the writer is saying that's not true. Even better when it's on the topic of bisexuality. When I was twelve (and even seventeen!) being bi was equated with wanting attention. Hopefully the literature we're putting in the hands of children starts a push into more understanding grounds.
I'm pretty sure my book lists are becoming more and more LGBT+ themed and that's great because of how little there really is out there. When I think of Middle Grade LGBT, I can really only get a hold of Rick Riordan. This book is the first Middle Grade one I've read where the main protagonist is figuring out her sexuality and it works wonderfully.
I hope I see this book in school and helps encourage kids to believe that there sexuality is valid in the middle school years. They're told so often that they're too young to know who they're attracted to at that age and it's nice to see a book come out where the writer is saying that's not true. Even better when it's on the topic of bisexuality. When I was twelve (and even seventeen!) being bi was equated with wanting attention. Hopefully the literature we're putting in the hands of children starts a push into more understanding grounds.
4.5 Stars.
What a fantastic book! I love seeing representation aimed towards young readers and this is such great representation. The main character is kind, intelligent, and relatable. The exploration of her bi identity is wonderful, it doesn't fall into tired tropes and stereotypes, and there are enough scenes that explain the nuances of her identity and the reasons she's struggling with it/ why other people react the ways they do, without feeling preachy or overly educational. Also, the entire thing is mixed in with some really fun exploration of Shakespeare! Though again, Barbara Dee takes a tough subject and explains it in ways that make it easy to understand without being too heavy handed. There were a number of really fun parallels between the story and Romeo and Juliet that were subtle enough not to be overkill but clear enough that I think young readers will be able to pick up on them.
The only issues I had with this book are pretty much due to it being a middle grade book and, as such, all the characters are only about 13. There was a lot of petty middle-school drama/mean girls. Being out of high school, I am very done with that kind of drama but I do remember it being so so important back in middle school so I can understand the inclusion in the book. They also focused on an interpretation of R&J that I'm not a huge fan of (the fairy-tale romance, true love, beautiful story of young love interpretation). I much prefer the more critical interpretation of R&J as essentially a cautionary tale about pointless feuds and teenage infatuation. Though again, it worked much better for the story and in a middle-grade context.
Overall I think this was a wonderful book. I know the author's daughter came out to her at a very young age which is what inspired it, so it's well researched and based on really good sources (her daughter wrote an extensive tumblr post on the subject). I think it was a really good exploration of queer identity in young people. And one of my favorite things is that it was 100% age appropriate for a middle grade novel. Let me explain... Queerness is so often immediately thought of as inherently explicit. Having books like this that show queer identity in kids as a normal, perfectly healthy, and age appropriate thing is so great because it helps stop that stereotype. This is just a great book and I think we need more like it available for children to learn from. I certainly know if I had books like this as a kid I probably wouldn't have spent so much of Junior High and High School so confused.
What a fantastic book! I love seeing representation aimed towards young readers and this is such great representation. The main character is kind, intelligent, and relatable. The exploration of her bi identity is wonderful, it doesn't fall into tired tropes and stereotypes, and there are enough scenes that explain the nuances of her identity and the reasons she's struggling with it/ why other people react the ways they do, without feeling preachy or overly educational. Also, the entire thing is mixed in with some really fun exploration of Shakespeare! Though again, Barbara Dee takes a tough subject and explains it in ways that make it easy to understand without being too heavy handed. There were a number of really fun parallels between the story and Romeo and Juliet that were subtle enough not to be overkill but clear enough that I think young readers will be able to pick up on them.
The only issues I had with this book are pretty much due to it being a middle grade book and, as such, all the characters are only about 13. There was a lot of petty middle-school drama/mean girls. Being out of high school, I am very done with that kind of drama but I do remember it being so so important back in middle school so I can understand the inclusion in the book. They also focused on an interpretation of R&J that I'm not a huge fan of (the fairy-tale romance, true love, beautiful story of young love interpretation). I much prefer the more critical interpretation of R&J as essentially a cautionary tale about pointless feuds and teenage infatuation. Though again, it worked much better for the story and in a middle-grade context.
Overall I think this was a wonderful book. I know the author's daughter came out to her at a very young age which is what inspired it, so it's well researched and based on really good sources (her daughter wrote an extensive tumblr post on the subject). I think it was a really good exploration of queer identity in young people. And one of my favorite things is that it was 100% age appropriate for a middle grade novel. Let me explain... Queerness is so often immediately thought of as inherently explicit. Having books like this that show queer identity in kids as a normal, perfectly healthy, and age appropriate thing is so great because it helps stop that stereotype. This is just a great book and I think we need more like it available for children to learn from. I certainly know if I had books like this as a kid I probably wouldn't have spent so much of Junior High and High School so confused.
This was utterly charming, and I'm very glad it exists.
I haven't read much this year. I keep picking books up and then putting them down and never picking them up again. I was worried the same thing would happen with this book but it didn't. Once I started reading I needed to keep going. The characters are great and the romance is adorable.
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I'm so glad kids today have books like this; this would have been such a big deal for me when I was a little gay middle schooler.
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Content Warnings
Minor: Homophobia
Wish books like this were around when I was in middle school. Very cute!