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4.23 AVERAGE
4.23 AVERAGE
#metoo for the middle grade. 4.5 stars
Mila. Mila has life happening to her right now. She doesn't always handle it well, but I appreciated the reality of it.
p. 67 for example of changing friendship. The distance/changing BFF isn't super vilified.
p. 167 example of interaction with teacher and Mila's answer vs thought. Typical ms mentality?
p. 121 Zara making excuses for boys' behavior
Dog chapter Mila Brennan
Well done middle grade read.
Mila. Mila has life happening to her right now. She doesn't always handle it well, but I appreciated the reality of it.
Spoiler
p. 67 for example of changing friendship. The distance/changing BFF isn't super vilified.
p. 167 example of interaction with teacher and Mila's answer vs thought. Typical ms mentality?
p. 121 Zara making excuses for boys' behavior
Dog chapter Mila Brennan
Well done middle grade read.
Important read that discusses repeated sexual harassment with a character who seems uneducated about it. It’s important that adults take the time to discuss these types of aggressions with children and what to do to make it stop.
This middle grade novel deals with sexual harassment and the complicated experiences middle school girls go through in a way that makes it approachable. This book should be in every middle school library - and I think it can start important conversations about listening to girls and making sure students understand what harassment is.
This is such an important book for preteens: regardless of gender. The line between teasing/flirting and sexual harassment is expertly drawn in this realistic, seventh-grade girl’s perspective.
Barbara Dee's new book should be required reading for middle school and up. My middle and high school days are decades in the past, but Mila's story took me back to those awkward encounters with touches and words I would never tolerate now. I think this book highlights the beginnings of a cultural shift. We can't just brush off inappropriate behavior by saying "maybe he just likes you" anymore. Victims of this kind of casual assault need safe harbors at school and at home, and the perpetrators need to be educated and disciplined for inappropriate behavior. Highly recommended.
The only thing that struck me wrong was the use of the slang "fresh" for talking back. It pops up a couple of times. Does anyone say that anymore? Is it a regional thing? I only know it from watching reruns on afternoon tv as a kid.
Read more at Bookish Adventures.
The only thing that struck me wrong was the use of the slang "fresh" for talking back. It pops up a couple of times. Does anyone say that anymore? Is it a regional thing? I only know it from watching reruns on afternoon tv as a kid.
Read more at Bookish Adventures.
This is one of those must read books. I wish 12 year old me had read this book. Maybe I would have been more equipped to handle the bra snaps, comments about my flat chest, unwanted male attention, and the boys on the bus touching girls legs to see who had shaved and who hadn't. The "boys will be boys" behavior that we just tried to ignore. This book can teach girls not to take sexual harassment from an early age...and teach boys how harmful this behavior can be to others. Not only does this book have an important message, it was also really well done. I enjoyed the story and characters. It felt authentic and not too preachy. This is one that will be on my daughter's reading list, and maybe my son's as well.
Trigger warning - gaslighting, bullying, sexual harassment, mansplaining, etc.
This is an important book for MS girls. It made me infuriated. I feel that some MS boys may benefit from it and some would learn how to gaslight.
This is an important book for MS girls. It made me infuriated. I feel that some MS boys may benefit from it and some would learn how to gaslight.
Seventh grader Mila does not understand why some boys in his class are giving her unwanted hugs. She can not seem to understand why they target her for hugs and other inappropriate touching of her body parts. When she asks them to stop, they laugh at her and tell her she is overreacting. Her friends think they are giving her extra attention because they like her and also they scrutinize Mila's action which could provoke such unwanted attention from the boys. Mila feels helpless. She can not confide in her mom because she is going through some difficult times with job. Mila tries to deal with the situation on her own but the teasing and touching only escalate. Incidentally Mila ends up in a karate class where the sensei teaches Mila not only martial arts but the strength to stand up to bullying. This book deals with a topic which I never thought about. Barabara Dee writes in a way that the readers seem to feel each anguish, fear and frustration that Mila feels as the boys laugh at her, force a hug from her or touch her casually when no grown up is watching. Somewhat belatedly I asked my grown up daughter about such experiences in middle school and I was horrified to discover that such things are quite common and happen often to girls as their bodies start to develop.
This book made me so uncomfortable to read until it didn’t. For most of the book, I felt like I was reliving my own experiences of grade school sexual harassment, experiences that for the longest time I struggled to even call “sexual harrassment” because it didn’t seem bad enough. I kept reading the book because, I hoped (I knew) that Milas experiences wouldn’t resolve like mine did, as a keep-your-head-down-till-you’re-out-of-the-situation bad memory. Instead, she is able to stand up for herself in her own way and the boys, instead of hating her but leaving her alone, learn to do better. I feel like this book does that so well, of making all the characters, from her friend that dismisses her, to the teachers who are ignorant, to the boys who harass her, human and capable of change for the better while still validating Milas experience. I think that’s what makes this such a good book for all middle schoolers to read and understand what sexual harassment is and why I think this should be required reading at all middle schools.
hopeful
reflective
tense
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:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual harassment
Moderate: Bullying
Minor: Toxic friendship