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4.16 AVERAGE
4.16 AVERAGE
I snagged a copy of this at ALA as an impulse and I'm so glad I did. This book is amazing.
It's told in verse from both girls' viewpoints. Watching them become friends and then fall for each other is incredibly satisfying. Of course there are hurdles, but it's still so sweet and swoon-worthy. The poetry adds an extra dimension to this, especially the parts where they're thinking almost the same thing. It's adorable, and
This is absolutely a book to watch out for (it's out October 1), and I'll be looking for K.A. Holt's backlist. Recommended.
It's told in verse from both girls' viewpoints. Watching them become friends and then fall for each other is incredibly satisfying. Of course there are hurdles, but it's still so sweet and swoon-worthy. The poetry adds an extra dimension to this, especially the parts where they're thinking almost the same thing. It's adorable, and
This is absolutely a book to watch out for (it's out October 1), and I'll be looking for K.A. Holt's backlist. Recommended.
This was so cute, and a really fast read! I don't think I would have picked it up if I knew this book was middle grade because that's not usually what I read, so I'm glad I didn't know that going in! I hope this book finds its way into the hands of the kids who need to hear what it has to say, because it says a lot of good things!!
I did enjoy the reading of the audiobook and found it interesting that it was told in verse.
But the story just wasn't for me. I know it's high school and teenagers are angsty and moody, but I couldn't stand the last fourth of the book. It was the 3rd act-the two hate each other and resent each other and mess with each other. And frankly, by the time the book ended I didn't want those two to end up together.
And this could be argued whether it was or not, but there was kind of a forced outing scene. Not to the whole world, a small grouo of people, but still. I'm so sick of seeing forced outing in LGBT fiction. And I don't understand why the author did this, because she herself is queer. Can we just find other angst?
So yeah. This book was not for me. There were good scenes, but I ended not liking it by the end.
But the story just wasn't for me. I know it's high school and teenagers are angsty and moody, but I couldn't stand the last fourth of the book. It was the 3rd act-the two hate each other and resent each other and mess with each other. And frankly, by the time the book ended I didn't want those two to end up together.
And this could be argued whether it was or not, but there was kind of a forced outing scene. Not to the whole world, a small grouo of people, but still. I'm so sick of seeing forced outing in LGBT fiction. And I don't understand why the author did this, because she herself is queer. Can we just find other angst?
So yeah. This book was not for me. There were good scenes, but I ended not liking it by the end.
A book that's all emotions, about that arc of feeling and struggling to name the feeling.
It took me a little bit to get into this particular style of novel-in-verse, but I ended up liking the way it emphasized the perspectives and internal monologues of the two main characters, Tam and Kate. The occasional Greek Chorus interjections didn't work for me, but their intrusion is minimal. I enjoyed this story, a solid 3+ stars. First love <3
Quibble:I felt like Becca and Levi were unrealistically quick to forgive and move on from having been ditched by their best friends. Adults (or any reader, because of how we're "in" their minds) probably find Tam and Kate's behavior excusable because of the intensity of first love, but my experience with peers has been that they are (understandably) upset and the relationships would need more extensive repairs.
Quibble:
A wonderful "listen while meandering around the neighborhood" book. I don't think audiobook is the best way to experience this - I got a bit confused by the voices in the beginning, and it took me a while to differentiate Kate from Tam. But once I got into it, I was hooked on this middle grade romance. I want a spin off book about the elderly lesbian neighbors.
3.5 stars rounded down. A solid, sweet, if not standout, addition to the body of queer girl middle-grade literature, about a cheerleader (Kate/"Ponytail") and a jock girl (Tam/"Redwood") falling in crush and figuring themselves out. One girl has a coming-out storyline, while the other, interestingly, seems to either a) already be out or b) have such a queer-normative family that she has no concept of out vs. not out.
Elements I loved:
* Found/chosen family: one girl has a lesbian grandma with no biological or legal relationship to her or her mother
* The portrayal of a mother who is in that complicated in-between space of "probably not abusive but definitely Difficult"
* The way Tam, who is coded as butch / masculine / gender non-conforming, goes by a more masculine or androgynous version of her given name (Tamara) - this is such a subtle little piece of queer representation that queer readers will recognize.
* Tam is (briefly, unintentionally) misgendered by a stranger. This is an experience that I share, and one that I have rarely if ever seen in middle-grade.
* There is literally a Greek chorus of kids named Alex, Alexx, and Alyx, which I find hilarious.
* Kate's friend is upset at the thought of Kate kissing Tam, not because Tam is a girl but because Tam was mean to the friend!
Elements that weren't as successful:
* This is a dual-POV novel in verse, with both POVs in first person, and occasionally there are interludes where both POVs are on the same page, narrating simultaneously. I understand this is meant to be cool and poetic, but I mostly just found it distracting.
* Kate feels like a more fleshed-out character than Tam does. While Tam does have a clear personality, her character arc doesn't feel as substantive, maybe because she has a very supportive family while Kate's family is more complicated.
* It feels weird to say this about queer girl middle-grade (or any queer middle-grade!), but overall this book doesn't feel like it breaks a whole lot of new ground. Queer girl middle-grade has a novel in verse ([b:The Deepest Breath|43726808|The Deepest Breath|Meg Grehan|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1555187909l/43726808._SY75_.jpg|68053968]); it has difficult parents and a beloved but semi-estranged older sister ([b:P.S. I Miss You|29735642|P.S. I Miss You|Jen Petro-Roy|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1496365977l/29735642._SX50_.jpg|50078262]); it has simple, sweet "welp I like a girl" stories ([b:Star-Crossed|27242442|Star-Crossed|Barbara Dee|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1489312283l/27242442._SX50_.jpg|47291235], [b:Starring Kitty|21521965|Starring Kitty (Reel Friends, #1)|Keris Stainton|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1401727886l/21521965._SY75_.jpg|40846456]); it has "my parents are splitting up but don't want to talk about it" ([b:Drum Roll, Please|35098024|Drum Roll, Please|Lisa Jenn Bigelow|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1508378146l/35098024._SY75_.jpg|56402852]). It's not bad - I enjoyed reading it and it's always good to have more options for kids hungry for representation - but it doesn't feel that distinctive. I guess it doesn't have much of a hook - like, Drum Roll Please takes place at band camp, Star-Crossed is partly a retelling of Romeo and Juliet, P.S. I Miss You has a high-concept plot twist, and Ashley Herring Blake's 2018 and 2019 middle-grades are both more about major life upheavals (tornado-induced homelessness, a heart transplant) than about "welp I like a girl." To be fair, many middle-grade readers will come to this book without having read all those books already, so this book may hold more novelty for them.
Elements I loved:
* Found/chosen family: one girl has a lesbian grandma with no biological or legal relationship to her or her mother
* The portrayal of a mother who is in that complicated in-between space of "probably not abusive but definitely Difficult"
* The way Tam, who is coded as butch / masculine / gender non-conforming, goes by a more masculine or androgynous version of her given name (Tamara) - this is such a subtle little piece of queer representation that queer readers will recognize.
* Tam is (briefly, unintentionally) misgendered by a stranger. This is an experience that I share, and one that I have rarely if ever seen in middle-grade.
* There is literally a Greek chorus of kids named Alex, Alexx, and Alyx, which I find hilarious.
* Kate's friend is upset at the thought of Kate kissing Tam, not because Tam is a girl but because Tam was mean to the friend!
Elements that weren't as successful:
* This is a dual-POV novel in verse, with both POVs in first person, and occasionally there are interludes where both POVs are on the same page, narrating simultaneously. I understand this is meant to be cool and poetic, but I mostly just found it distracting.
* Kate feels like a more fleshed-out character than Tam does. While Tam does have a clear personality, her character arc doesn't feel as substantive, maybe because she has a very supportive family while Kate's family is more complicated.
* It feels weird to say this about queer girl middle-grade (or any queer middle-grade!), but overall this book doesn't feel like it breaks a whole lot of new ground. Queer girl middle-grade has a novel in verse ([b:The Deepest Breath|43726808|The Deepest Breath|Meg Grehan|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1555187909l/43726808._SY75_.jpg|68053968]); it has difficult parents and a beloved but semi-estranged older sister ([b:P.S. I Miss You|29735642|P.S. I Miss You|Jen Petro-Roy|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1496365977l/29735642._SX50_.jpg|50078262]); it has simple, sweet "welp I like a girl" stories ([b:Star-Crossed|27242442|Star-Crossed|Barbara Dee|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1489312283l/27242442._SX50_.jpg|47291235], [b:Starring Kitty|21521965|Starring Kitty (Reel Friends, #1)|Keris Stainton|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1401727886l/21521965._SY75_.jpg|40846456]); it has "my parents are splitting up but don't want to talk about it" ([b:Drum Roll, Please|35098024|Drum Roll, Please|Lisa Jenn Bigelow|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1508378146l/35098024._SY75_.jpg|56402852]). It's not bad - I enjoyed reading it and it's always good to have more options for kids hungry for representation - but it doesn't feel that distinctive. I guess it doesn't have much of a hook - like, Drum Roll Please takes place at band camp, Star-Crossed is partly a retelling of Romeo and Juliet, P.S. I Miss You has a high-concept plot twist, and Ashley Herring Blake's 2018 and 2019 middle-grades are both more about major life upheavals (tornado-induced homelessness, a heart transplant) than about "welp I like a girl." To be fair, many middle-grade readers will come to this book without having read all those books already, so this book may hold more novelty for them.
So I don't usually read books written in verse, but this book was so interesting and written so beautifully, that I gave it a chance. I adored the LGBT rep and I would've loved reading those books when I was younger. The characters felt so real and done in such an emotional, raw way that I immediately connected to both of them and understood their struggles. An excellent middle grade read.