May 7, 2024 by Macmillan Publishers
E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus
Linus and his family have moved from New York to Ohio to be near his grandmother, who is getting older and need support. He is apprehensive about his new school, but glad for a fresh start. He has recently come out as trans, and was tired of answering questions that people had. At his new school, he can just be himself. On the first day, he meets the outspoken Etta, who has died her hair green and wears black nail polish. Her former best friend, Marigold, accuses her of being "anti everything", but Etta is just tired of middle school and looking forward to next year, when she hopes to get into the Nova alternative high school. When Marigold points out that she'll need extra curriculars, Etta brags that she could get anyone elected to a student council position, and Marigold dares her to get Linus elected. Linus is struggling with having to see his grandmother twice a week; his dead name is the same as his grandmother's, and she is unwilling to see Linus as a boy. Wanting to make his only friend happy, he agrees to run. Eventually, the fact that he is trans is shared, and Etta is okay with this fact, even though she doesn't react to it in an optimal way. She's more upset by the fact that Linus is friendly with Marigold. After he is even more friendly with Marigold at a party, that fact that Marigold dared Etta to get Linus elected comes out. Will the two be able to repair their friendship, and will Linus use the platform of student council to promote LGBTQIA+ acceptance at his new school.
Strengths: This addresses the issue of transitioning in a way similar to Salazar's The More and More or medina's The One Who Loves You Most; those are the only two I can think of that address boys getting periods, as well as the use of chest binders. Although Etta is prickly, and is very hurt by her friendship with Marigold coming to an end, she has a good heart, and welcomes Linus to the school. Linus' parents are very supportive, and his grandmother eventually comes around. There is other diversity as well; Linus' friend Olive in New York has two fathers, and there is a math teacher, Mx. B., who identifies as non-binary.
Weaknesses: I always have trouble with books that feature school elections, and found it odd that the school would state that there would be two girls and two boys elected to serve as 8th grade representatives. Middle grade books also seem to have more school assemblies than I have ever seen; my school doesn't have its own auditorium, so that only assemblies we have are twice a year behavior assemblies, and pep assemblies.
What I really think: This is a good choice for readers who enjoyed Gino's Green, Polonsky's Gracefully Grayson (which came out in 2014!), or Riley's Jude Saves the World, but also would like the intrigue of middle school politics and elections.
E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus
Linus and his family have moved from New York to Ohio to be near his grandmother, who is getting older and need support. He is apprehensive about his new school, but glad for a fresh start. He has recently come out as trans, and was tired of answering questions that people had. At his new school, he can just be himself. On the first day, he meets the outspoken Etta, who has died her hair green and wears black nail polish. Her former best friend, Marigold, accuses her of being "anti everything", but Etta is just tired of middle school and looking forward to next year, when she hopes to get into the Nova alternative high school. When Marigold points out that she'll need extra curriculars, Etta brags that she could get anyone elected to a student council position, and Marigold dares her to get Linus elected. Linus is struggling with having to see his grandmother twice a week; his dead name is the same as his grandmother's, and she is unwilling to see Linus as a boy. Wanting to make his only friend happy, he agrees to run. Eventually, the fact that he is trans is shared, and Etta is okay with this fact, even though she doesn't react to it in an optimal way. She's more upset by the fact that Linus is friendly with Marigold. After he is even more friendly with Marigold at a party, that fact that Marigold dared Etta to get Linus elected comes out. Will the two be able to repair their friendship, and will Linus use the platform of student council to promote LGBTQIA+ acceptance at his new school.
Strengths: This addresses the issue of transitioning in a way similar to Salazar's The More and More or medina's The One Who Loves You Most; those are the only two I can think of that address boys getting periods, as well as the use of chest binders. Although Etta is prickly, and is very hurt by her friendship with Marigold coming to an end, she has a good heart, and welcomes Linus to the school. Linus' parents are very supportive, and his grandmother eventually comes around. There is other diversity as well; Linus' friend Olive in New York has two fathers, and there is a math teacher, Mx. B., who identifies as non-binary.
Weaknesses: I always have trouble with books that feature school elections, and found it odd that the school would state that there would be two girls and two boys elected to serve as 8th grade representatives. Middle grade books also seem to have more school assemblies than I have ever seen; my school doesn't have its own auditorium, so that only assemblies we have are twice a year behavior assemblies, and pep assemblies.
What I really think: This is a good choice for readers who enjoyed Gino's Green, Polonsky's Gracefully Grayson (which came out in 2014!), or Riley's Jude Saves the World, but also would like the intrigue of middle school politics and elections.
May 14, 2024 by Nancy Paulsen Books
E ARC provided by Edelweiss
Coop was left at a hospital as an infant under the Safe Haven law, and was adopted into a loving family. His father plays trombone with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and his mother is spending the summer in San Francisco teaches piano at the university level. Coop spends a lot of time with his Nona and G-Pop, and enjoys being able to see his friend Zandi, who lives nearby. There is a nest of mockingbirds that G-Pop and the kids are watching. Once the eggs hatch and most of the birds leave the nest, there is still one bird remaining. Coop climbs the tree to investigate, but falls from the tree and breaks his arm. Later, they realize that the bird has not left the next because it only has one wing. They manage to get the bird down and keep it safe, feeding it every 45 minutes with an eyedropper. It's against the law to keep wild birds, so they find a rehabilitation facility willing to take the bird, whom they name Hop. Coop, however, feels sympathy for the animal and doesn't want to abandon him the way that he was abandoned, but knows that the bird needs friends who can help him learn to sing. He runs away to visit the facility on his own, and finally makes peace not only with giving up Hop, but with the fact that his birth mother faced a similar difficult decision and did what she thought was best.
Woods always manages to work music into her books in a very interesting way, like in her Saint Louis Armstrong Beach or When Winter Robeson Came. This also reminded me a little of Williams-Garcia's Clayton Byrd Goes Underground, with the bus adventure to the bird sanctuary. There were also good details about taking care of wild animals properly.
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