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3.63 AVERAGE
3.63 AVERAGE
More of a 3.5 stars.
A couple of weeks ago, Book Riot sent out an email titled "📚 Don't Sleep On These Great 2018 YA Reads." The titles on this list included real teen problems, grief, trauma and inclusive characters. The title that caught my eye was Apple in the Middle. I was intrigued and put myself on the hold list at the library. After I received my copy, I finished the book in one night. I fell in love with Apple, the characters and the setting, but had some major issues with the ending that knocked my review down a half star.
Plot- Apple Starkington is a teenage girl living in Minnetonka (a suburb of Minneapolis, for those not in the know) with her white father, stepmother and stepbrother. Ever since she was called a racial slur when she was a little kid, she has turned her back on her Native heritage. Her mother, dead minutes after Apple was born due to injuries from a car crash, named her. One summer, her father and stepmother take an extended trip. Her stepbrother goes to stay with his grandparents. Apple reluctantly goes to stay with her mother's family on the Turtle Mountain Indian Reservation in North Dakota. Apple spends the summer connecting with her large and friendly family, her Native heritage and learning more about how to be confident in herself.
What I loved- the Native characters and how their heritage is weaved into the story. Apple is a likable and flawed protagonist. Reading along with her (told in 1st person) as she learns about herself, her mother, her family and her heritage was wonderful and deeply rewarding. She starts off the book as a lonely, uncertain girl and becomes a confident, sociable woman. Some of her quirks, including talking in random accents and blurting out uncomfortable questions, are accepted by her family.
Her family in North Dakota is also a wonderful group. Her grandparents, cousins, aunts, uncles and friends are all fun characters, lovable and realistic.
The antagonists are also fleshed out well. An ex-friend of her mother's and his kids give Apple a hard time about her heritage by using the negative connotations connected to her name- "red" or Indian on the outside and white on the inside and in general, harassing her. The harassment was too painfully real, from both the ex-friend and the white person who calls her a racial slur at the beginning of the story that caused her to reject her heritage in the first place.
What I didn't like- The ending. Without giving too much away, the last 30 pages of the book were super out of the blue and took the story down a path I wasn't a fan of. It felt manipulative and I felt wasn't necessary for the story. The ending was so out of the blue that it took the story down a half star for me, which was disappointing. Others may not be as put off by the ending as me, so take what I say with a grain of salt.
The characters and heritage are enough to for me to recommend this book for anyone looking for more teen novels starring Native characters set in present day. I'm excited to see what Dawn Quigley does next!
A couple of weeks ago, Book Riot sent out an email titled "📚 Don't Sleep On These Great 2018 YA Reads." The titles on this list included real teen problems, grief, trauma and inclusive characters. The title that caught my eye was Apple in the Middle. I was intrigued and put myself on the hold list at the library. After I received my copy, I finished the book in one night. I fell in love with Apple, the characters and the setting, but had some major issues with the ending that knocked my review down a half star.
Plot- Apple Starkington is a teenage girl living in Minnetonka (a suburb of Minneapolis, for those not in the know) with her white father, stepmother and stepbrother. Ever since she was called a racial slur when she was a little kid, she has turned her back on her Native heritage. Her mother, dead minutes after Apple was born due to injuries from a car crash, named her. One summer, her father and stepmother take an extended trip. Her stepbrother goes to stay with his grandparents. Apple reluctantly goes to stay with her mother's family on the Turtle Mountain Indian Reservation in North Dakota. Apple spends the summer connecting with her large and friendly family, her Native heritage and learning more about how to be confident in herself.
What I loved- the Native characters and how their heritage is weaved into the story. Apple is a likable and flawed protagonist. Reading along with her (told in 1st person) as she learns about herself, her mother, her family and her heritage was wonderful and deeply rewarding. She starts off the book as a lonely, uncertain girl and becomes a confident, sociable woman. Some of her quirks, including talking in random accents and blurting out uncomfortable questions, are accepted by her family.
Her family in North Dakota is also a wonderful group. Her grandparents, cousins, aunts, uncles and friends are all fun characters, lovable and realistic.
The antagonists are also fleshed out well. An ex-friend of her mother's and his kids give Apple a hard time about her heritage by using the negative connotations connected to her name- "red" or Indian on the outside and white on the inside and in general, harassing her. The harassment was too painfully real, from both the ex-friend and the white person who calls her a racial slur at the beginning of the story that caused her to reject her heritage in the first place.
What I didn't like- The ending. Without giving too much away, the last 30 pages of the book were super out of the blue and took the story down a path I wasn't a fan of. It felt manipulative and I felt wasn't necessary for the story. The ending was so out of the blue that it took the story down a half star for me, which was disappointing. Others may not be as put off by the ending as me, so take what I say with a grain of salt.
The characters and heritage are enough to for me to recommend this book for anyone looking for more teen novels starring Native characters set in present day. I'm excited to see what Dawn Quigley does next!
RTC.
CW: Racial slurs including n-word, racism, grief, bullying, vomiting, references to: alcoholism, residential schools, genocide
CW: Racial slurs including n-word, racism, grief, bullying, vomiting, references to: alcoholism, residential schools, genocide
This book was on my #MustReadin2019 list, but it wasn't exactly what I was expecting. I struggled to get into it, but once I hit the halfway point, I really wanted to read the rest. Apple Starkington was born to a native mother and caucasian father, but her mother died the same day she was born. She's currently a high schooler in Minnesota and her wealthy surgeon dad and step mom have decided to drop her off at her native grandparents' house for the summer while they go off on their belated honeymoon.
What I enjoyed: Having Apple grow up in the "white" world of Minnesota and then visit the reservation for a whole summer to discover her Native roots was a great way to explore common misconceptions and to address cultural appropriation. For example, Apple asked what costumes they would wear to the PowWow. She also learned how inappropriate it is to ask someone "how much" Indian they were -- because even if Apple was only half Native, she was 100% family. The lessons went on and on throughout this story. I adored Apple's Native American family. There was so much love and acceptance in her extended family and the story was incredibly descriptive for all the senses.
What I struggled with: 1. Apple had never met her native grandparents before and knows practically nothing about native culture when she's dropped off with little warning. 2. As far as we know, she does not hear from her parents all summer long. 3. Apple is very sarcastic and an inner jokester during narration, which would be fine except that it comes out in constant asides (usually squeezed into parenthesis... lots of interspersed parenthesis within this story that slow things down). 4. Without spoiling anything big, I'll just say that we discover mystical Native American powers--like seeing images of people's private lives without their knowledge. And this somewhat changes the realistic elements of the story halfway through. 5. There was a very difficult event near the end and I'm not sure I understand why it had to happen. 6. You know the saying show me, don't tell me? I wish there was more showing as some of the dialogue felt a tad preachy, at times.
Overall, this is an important #ownvoices book, even if there were elements that I found troubling. However, it was Dawn Quigley's debut middle grade novel, so I'll be interested in seeing what she writes on down the road after gaining more experience and feedback on this book.
For more children's literature, middle grade literature, and YA literature reviews, feel free to visit my personal blog at The Miller Memo!
What I enjoyed: Having Apple grow up in the "white" world of Minnesota and then visit the reservation for a whole summer to discover her Native roots was a great way to explore common misconceptions and to address cultural appropriation. For example, Apple asked what costumes they would wear to the PowWow. She also learned how inappropriate it is to ask someone "how much" Indian they were -- because even if Apple was only half Native, she was 100% family. The lessons went on and on throughout this story. I adored Apple's Native American family. There was so much love and acceptance in her extended family and the story was incredibly descriptive for all the senses.
What I struggled with: 1. Apple had never met her native grandparents before and knows practically nothing about native culture when she's dropped off with little warning. 2. As far as we know, she does not hear from her parents all summer long. 3. Apple is very sarcastic and an inner jokester during narration, which would be fine except that it comes out in constant asides (usually squeezed into parenthesis... lots of interspersed parenthesis within this story that slow things down). 4. Without spoiling anything big, I'll just say that we discover mystical Native American powers--like seeing images of people's private lives without their knowledge. And this somewhat changes the realistic elements of the story halfway through. 5. There was a very difficult event near the end and I'm not sure I understand why it had to happen. 6. You know the saying show me, don't tell me? I wish there was more showing as some of the dialogue felt a tad preachy, at times.
Overall, this is an important #ownvoices book, even if there were elements that I found troubling. However, it was Dawn Quigley's debut middle grade novel, so I'll be interested in seeing what she writes on down the road after gaining more experience and feedback on this book.
For more children's literature, middle grade literature, and YA literature reviews, feel free to visit my personal blog at The Miller Memo!
Please read this book! You will not regret it. Such a sweet and interesting story.
