Listen to This

Blecher, Jennifer. Listen to This
March 26, 2024 by Greenwillow Books

E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus
 

Lily and Will like each other, but this is never an easy thing to navigate in middle school! Lily, Maddie, and Sasha have been friends for a long time, and are there to support each other, but as seventh grade progresses, things start to change. There is a dance coming up that they all expect to go to together, but since Maddie and Sasha are on a premier soccer team that Lily didn't make, they will have to miss the dance. Not only that, but Maddie has told Lily a big secret that she isn't telling Sasha, and Sasha has secrets of her own. Will has his own struggles; his mother died when he was in third grade, and his father started a podcast called Dr. Dad that starts with Will's mother singing You Are My Sunshine. Will's friend Gavin listens to the podcast and often gives Will a hard time about it; he's Will's only friend, but is the kind of friend that makes one wonder why there is a friendship at all. To complicate matters, Will's mother Stephanie was best friends with the mother of Sienna, the seventh grade mean girl. Will and Sienna were close years ago, but lately Sienna has been unpleasant. It doesn't help that her mother seems to prefer Will, and is always fighting with Sienna. There's some fighting in Lily's world as well, since her older sister Reese is interested in fashion, and their mother doesn't think that social media is important. When Sienna, who is trying to match everyone up for the school dance, invites Lily to a sleepover, Lily is thrilled to be included at first, but when Lily refuses to call Will up and ask him to the dance, Sienna abruptly calls off the sleepover. Not only that, but when it turns out Lily has accidentally worn Sienna's even eye necklace home, Sienna starts a rumor that Lily has stolen it. Lily and Will start a very supportive relationship, but it is sabotaged when Will's father posts a picture of Will buying a similar necklace. Lily assumes that it is for Sienna, so stops talking to Will, and Will asks Stephanie for help after he fights with his father about the podcast. Emotions are running high, but will the two be able to untangle all of the complicated relationships of middle school to make their new one work? 
Strengths: This captured the beginning of a middle school romance brilliantly and awkwardly; I love how Will and Lily both struggle to connect to each other, and also have to deal with the perceptions of others, like Sienna, who feel compelled to insert themselves into their new relationship. That is middle school exactly. While Will's mother is dead, and there is some talk of the father struggling, the two seem to have found a way forward, even thought for the father this is revealing all of Will's life on his podcast! Sienna's mean girl is also intriguing, as she is portrayed as having struggles of her own. This moved forward quickly, and is just the sort of story I would have loved in middle school. 
Weaknesses: I wish we had seen more of Gavin, and learned how Will navigated this annoying friend. I'm so intrigued by friendships that don't make sense, like in Walker's Let's Pretend We Never Met. I think a lot of people have friends in middle and high school that they don't really LIKE all that much, but are still friends with for any number of complicated reasons. I'd love to see this explored in more middle grade novels. 
What I really think: I somehow didn't recognize this author, who also did Camp Famous and Stick With Me, both of which I liked and bought. This was great fun, and I am looking forward to handing it to both male and female readers, since it told from dual perspectives. There are not enough books with boys as the main characters that deal with romance, and this is perfect for fans of Richardson's Stu Truly and Costner's My Life as a Potato, which are both HUGELY popular in my library.