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4.16 AVERAGE
4.16 AVERAGE
The addition of another book to the Nate series totally surprised me, but a good one. Few middle grade novels click with me, but Federle's series absolutely did for the power of the voice and the humor. Of course, I also loved the heck out of the Broadway setting, which we lose in Nate Expectations. This is a weird series ender because it's in some ways very anti-climactic and maybe shouldn't work but it absolutely does.
At the opening of Nate Expectations, the inevitable happens: E.T. the Musical closes after a brief run on Broadway which fails to earn any Tony nominations. This might be surprising to kids, but honestly the writing was on the wall for this one from the first book. There was noooo way this was actually going to be good, and all the musical dialog ever shared in the books is awful.
For Nate, this certainly is a surprising and crushing development, one that sends him away from Jordan (the boy he's kissing and star of the show) and his aunt Heidi (with whom he had been living in NYC) back to Jankburg, PA. Everything happens so quickly and Nate's depressed to be going back to school, which he doesn't like with people he doesn't like (aside from Libby). He's also not excited about living with his dad again after the freedom and acceptance of the free-spirited, liberal Heidi.
After a Broadway musical, the fact that Nate Expectations centers on Nate's production of a Great Expectations musical as an English project should be seriously anticlimactic. And in some ways it definitely is. Nate Expectations doesn't have the wish fulfillment and big city glam of the first two books. Nate's firmly back in normal life, and the book feels much more realistic. However, the emotional journey of this installment is so strong that it keeps the novel from feeling like an anticlimax. It is in confronting his real life with his new confidence and lessons from New York that Nate truly grows.
There's more adorable m/m middle grade romance, including a homecomingposal that would have made me literally flee in embarrassment. It's super sweet watching Nate's play become a refuge for the nerdy kids of the school. I like, too, that his teacher tells him off for focusing all of his energies on this way overboard project; it's a great microcosm of his journey, in which he's learning to deal with reality over fantasy.
The only thing I didn't like was the fact that the series ends with one of my least favorite tropes: the series is something Nate writes in the series. That's a personal distaste, and certainly there was an awareness to the narration that revealed he was looking back at everything so it's not a huge surprise. I just find that this trope highlights the fictional aspect rather than making it feel more authentic.
At the opening of Nate Expectations, the inevitable happens: E.T. the Musical closes after a brief run on Broadway which fails to earn any Tony nominations. This might be surprising to kids, but honestly the writing was on the wall for this one from the first book. There was noooo way this was actually going to be good, and all the musical dialog ever shared in the books is awful.
For Nate, this certainly is a surprising and crushing development, one that sends him away from Jordan (the boy he's kissing and star of the show) and his aunt Heidi (with whom he had been living in NYC) back to Jankburg, PA. Everything happens so quickly and Nate's depressed to be going back to school, which he doesn't like with people he doesn't like (aside from Libby). He's also not excited about living with his dad again after the freedom and acceptance of the free-spirited, liberal Heidi.
After a Broadway musical, the fact that Nate Expectations centers on Nate's production of a Great Expectations musical as an English project should be seriously anticlimactic. And in some ways it definitely is. Nate Expectations doesn't have the wish fulfillment and big city glam of the first two books. Nate's firmly back in normal life, and the book feels much more realistic. However, the emotional journey of this installment is so strong that it keeps the novel from feeling like an anticlimax. It is in confronting his real life with his new confidence and lessons from New York that Nate truly grows.
There's more adorable m/m middle grade romance, including a homecomingposal that would have made me literally flee in embarrassment. It's super sweet watching Nate's play become a refuge for the nerdy kids of the school. I like, too, that his teacher tells him off for focusing all of his energies on this way overboard project; it's a great microcosm of his journey, in which he's learning to deal with reality over fantasy.
The only thing I didn't like was the fact that the series ends with one of my least favorite tropes: the series is something Nate writes in the series. That's a personal distaste, and certainly there was an awareness to the narration that revealed he was looking back at everything so it's not a huge surprise. I just find that this trope highlights the fictional aspect rather than making it feel more authentic.
Eu acho que o Nate é meu personagem favorito de toda literatura??????????? Ele é tão engraçado e tudo nele é muito real.
Esse livro foi CHEIO de emoções e eu não soube lidar.
Esse livro foi CHEIO de emoções e eu não soube lidar.
What a wonderful end to one of my favourite MG series! I adore Nate so much and I really liked this end to his story.