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katiemack 's review for:
Dress Coded
by Carrie Firestone
I'm going to do something I almost never do and refrain from giving this book a star rating. This isn't because the book wasn't good, but because it left me feeling conflicted.
The book, which I would describe as upper middle-grade or young YA, at its core relays the story of how a dress code at a middle school is unfairly enforced and the way a group of students tries to remedy this. There are, however, many subplots within the larger story. In fact, there are so many that it seems like Carrie Firestone was trying to create a mirror for every kind of kid out there--someone with cerebral palsy, someone with a traumatic brain injury, the main character's vape-dealing brother, students flagged for being too small or too big--and, consequently, she fails to fully flesh out these characters. The writing is sharp and insightful at times, but again, Firestone is so focused on incorporating all these points of view that it the book was dizzying to read at times.
The story and underlying message about rampant sexism and the difficulty of middle school are certainly important, despite the book's flaws.
The book, which I would describe as upper middle-grade or young YA, at its core relays the story of how a dress code at a middle school is unfairly enforced and the way a group of students tries to remedy this. There are, however, many subplots within the larger story. In fact, there are so many that it seems like Carrie Firestone was trying to create a mirror for every kind of kid out there--someone with cerebral palsy, someone with a traumatic brain injury, the main character's vape-dealing brother, students flagged for being too small or too big--and, consequently, she fails to fully flesh out these characters. The writing is sharp and insightful at times, but again, Firestone is so focused on incorporating all these points of view that it the book was dizzying to read at times.
The story and underlying message about rampant sexism and the difficulty of middle school are certainly important, despite the book's flaws.