A review by popthebutterfly
Unstuck by Barbara Dee

5.0

 

Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. Thanks! All opinions are my own. 

 

Book: Unstuck 

 

Author: Barbara Dee 

 

Book Series: Standalone 

 

Rating: 5/5 

 

Diversity: Possible character with autism, Black side character, possible main character with ADHD 

 

Recommended For...:  Middle Grade Readers, Contemporary, Mental Health, Family, Writing 

 

Publication Date: February 27, 2024 

 

Genre: MG Contemporary 

 

Age Relevance: 10+ (bullying) 

 

Explanation of Above: There are scenes of bullying shown in this book. 

 

Publisher: Aladdin 

 

Pages:286 

 

Synopsis: Lyla is thrilled when her seventh-grade English language arts class begins a daily creative writing project. For the past year, she’s been writing a brilliant fantasy novel in her head, and here’s her chance to get it on paper! The plot to Lyla’s novel is super complicated, with battle scenes and witches and a mysterious one-toed-beast, but at its core, it’s about an overlooked girl who has to rescue her beautiful, highly accomplished older sister. But writing a fantasy novel turns out to be harder than simply imagining one, and pretty soon Lyla finds herself stuck, experiencing a panic she realizes is writer’s block. Part of the problem is that she’s trying to impress certain people—like Rania, her best friend who’s pulling away, and Ms. Bowman, the coolest teacher at school. Plus, there’s the pressure of meeting the deadline for the town writing contest. A few years ago, Lyla’s superstar teen sister Dahlia came in second, and this time, Lyla is determined to win first prize. Finally, Lyla confides about her writing problems to Dahlia, who is dealing with her own academic stress as she applies to college. That’s when she learns Dahlia’s secret, which is causing a very different type of writer’s block. Can Lyla rescue a surprisingly vulnerable big sister, both on the page and in real life? 

 

Review: I really liked this book overall. I thought the book did well to show a realistic view of the writing process and I loved all of the different techniques shown and discussed in the book. I thought that the book would be really good for anyone who needs to write… well… anything. The book also really pulled at my heart strings as it showed a main character who was just trying to do so much in a short amount of time and the disappointment she felt really rang true to me. I loved the character development, I loved the world building, and the book that the MC is trying to write sounds really good. I hope that the author goes back one day and develops that. 

 

The only thing I can think of that I wished was different was that I wished that the book was a bit slower paced, but for a middle grade novel I think it’s perfect. 

 

Verdict: I loved it so much.