Reviews with content warning for Ableism - Ellen Outside the Lines

It's not bad, I just wasn't in the right frame of mind when reading it as a mood reader. Anyway, it flowed very quickly and was readable even without knowing Spanish. Would've prefered the description of pride including aspec people.

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buttermellow's review

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emotional hopeful informative reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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ezwolf's review

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adventurous emotional informative reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

First of all, I was just about in tears (happy tears!) by the end. To have a queer Jewish character who uses she/they pronouns really just made me so indescribably happy!

Jewish middle grade is going to be my favorite genre forever now I think. I've read so many great middle grade books with Jewish characters in the last few years and it makes me so happy for kids now to have such great representation in books, especially when so many Jewish books focus on the Holocaust (but yes, those are important too).

I loved that Hebrew was spoken between Ellen and her abba and that we got to see Jewish traditions just as part of Ellen's every day life. I've had l'cha dodi stuck in my head all day now though.

This book had a lot of great moments for the audience to learn about Judaism, gender identity, sexual orientation and autism.

I will now be reading all of A.J. Sass' other work as soon as possible!

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anna_wa's review

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hopeful

Strong character development? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

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wordswitwonder's review

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adventurous hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I really enjoyed this book. It is an own voices story about a Jewish autistic girl named Ellen. The cast of characters is diverse, including a boy with adhd, a (part?) latinx nonbinary character, and Castilian characters. It showcases how autism impacts Ellen's relationship with the world around her without infantilizing her, which is quite refreshing. It's a nice little coming of age story.

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betweentheshelves's review

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emotional hopeful fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Jewish rep (I don't think I've ever seen a middle grade book where they spoke Hebrew), queer rep, and autistic rep, all done fabuously. Elle felt like such a real, authentic character, going through things that every middle schooler goes through: changing friend groups. At least, that seems like a pretty universal thing to me.

I basically read this book in one sitting because it was paced so well, and I was so engaged by the characters. This is AJ Sass's second book, but you can bet that I will be on the lookout for what he writes in the future. I've thoroughly enjoyed both books so far!

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wardenred's review

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hopeful reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

I’m ahead of schedule and this is a problem.

This is such a thoughtful and well-written story with a lot of diversity. A lot of Ellen's experience navigating the uncomfortably changing world around her felt relatable and made me think back to my own preteen years. I also really loved Isa and the way their gender identity was handled. This book is a great reminder that even in a world where neurodivergent, nonbinary, and otherwise "different" kids have the language to talk about their experiences and can afford to actually talk about them openly, we still have such a long way to go. At the same time, that long road no longer feels impossible.

I really loved the characters in this book and the way the MC always has a support system to rely on, even when things get too much and out of control. Throughout all the challenges she experiences, being in a new place and facing a lot of unexpected things and being on shaky footing with her best friend, there's just so much kindness and hope. You know, just... this certainty that in the long run, no matter what life throws at them, Ellen and her friends are going to be all right.

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netflixismyroommate's review

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adventurous emotional hopeful medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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