A review by natesfairytale
Charlotte Illes Is Not a Teacher by Katie Siegel

adventurous emotional funny mysterious 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? Yes

4.5

 As a child, I used to love reading mysteries and solving them. Me and my friends would invent stories with missing items and try to solve cases. It felt nostalgic in the best way. This book felt like reconnecting with this little girl reading detective’s novels. And that’s exactly what Charlotte is afraid of, becoming Lottie again. And it’s especially hard, as she’s working in the place where all her cases took place, with people knowing who she used to be. And we can see glimpses of that girl through the little flashbacks in some chapters. I loved this book; it was both funny and serious at the right moments. It felt alive. Like you were part of the friend group, and you were helping solve the case too. The friends were funny, and they know each other so well, they always had each other’s backs. Something that is very often lacking, the friends were always present in Charlotte’s life, and they stayed relevant the whole story. They had lives of their own, too. 

And even though the story was light and funny, Katie Siegel, the author, found a way to broach more serious subjects.

For example, the discussion between Charlotte and Gabe about the school being accepting of queer kids, which was different for them. I loved seeing Charlotte recognising herself in Nia, and slowly making her peace with doing things the Lottie way.