MMGM- Not If You Break Up With Me First and Charles & Ray: Designers at Play

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Marvelous Middle Grade Monday
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Always in the Middle 

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Unleashing Readers

Miller, G.F. Not If You Break Up With Me First
June 4, 2024 by Aladdin
E ARC Provided by Edelweiss Plus

Eve and Andrew have been friends and neighbors most of their lives. They know each other's quirks, likes and dislikes, and favorite activities. When Andrew's family spends the summer in Florida, they both feel like things are a bit odd between them as they start 8th grade. Eve has spent the summer hanging out with the cross country girls, who are much more interested in boys and make up than she is. Andrew, who is in the marching band, also finds that his friends have a different attitude toward girls. Last year, they were interested in Legos and video games. He is especially dismayed when one, Holden, makes comments about girls being "hot", but isn't sure how to challenge him. Eve's parents have been fighting constantly, adding to her feeling of unease. When the girls on her team mention that another drummer, Madison, seems to have a crush on Andrew, Eve is surprised to feel a bit jealous. The others tease her, and dare her to ask Andrew to an upcoming dance. It's hard to say no when they are egging her on, so she breaks away from practice and approaches Andrew during marching band practice to ask him to the dance. Andrew is suprised by the nature of the invitation, but because HIS friends are watching, can hardly say no. From there, things just get weird. Andrew and Eve stop hanging out, but text a lot about the upcoming dance. Eve notices that her mother, who is best friends with Andrew's mother and has long thought that the two kids would get married when they grew up, seems happier and fights less with her father now that she and Andrew are "dating". After a disastrous dance, which includes golden hour photos by moms "taking pictures like it was their actual job", Eve is sure she has to break up with Andrew, but doesn't want to hurt his feelings. Andrew feels the same way. Both independently come to the conclusion that they have to make the other person break up with them, and each set up on a course of annoying behavior designed to irritate. Eve demands Andrew's hoodie, sits at his lunch table and calls him Andy, and embodies the clinging, smothering girlfriend she knows Andrew despises. Even this doesn't dissuade him, but he manages to mastermind an embarrassing Halloween costume that is even worse when Madison joins the group in a costume that coincidentally coordinates in a horrible way. There are some quiet moments when the two are alone that are very sweet, and they clearly care about each other. The dating and even the plan to break up are driven primarily by the pressure of the friend groups. When this all comes to a horrible confrontation in public, the two have to find a way to deescalate the situation. Will they be able to return to their casual but deeply caring friendship?

Clearly, Miller has spent a LOT of time with middle school students. There were so many situations that could have come out of my own life, or the life of my children or students. That 24 hours when my friend Brad and I "went out" because our friends in Latin class pushed us to was... something. My proudest parenting moment was when I did NOT go with my daughter to a friend's house to get ready for homecoming and join the throng of mothers and grandmothers with cameras. And my other daughter's first summer on the high school cross country team? Revelatory. All of the swirling emotions, new experiences, and embarrassing moments are so perfectly captured, and the amount of clever, chortle worthy lines was positively Sonnenblickian.

The way that the struggle of Eve's parents affects her, and the way that Andrew's mother deals with it, is quite well done. It's great that when they see how much it is affecting Eve, decide to go to counseling. The way this mirrors the troubles that Eve and Andrew are having because of lack of communication is an important lesson in how relationships need work, no matter what one's age, or the duration of the relationship. Instead of killing off most of the parents, I really with that middle grade literature would explore how troubled family dynamics affect tweens every day lives.

It was sweet to see how much Eve and Andrew cared about each other, and how they felt bad about annoying each other, but felt it was for the best. Madison was an intriguing character, and it was great when she tells Eve she would love to be friends with her. I loved that while Holden was a complete jerk, his friends didn't let him get away with being that way for long. There's definitely jerkiness out there. Middle school has so many confusing emotions, and they are laid painfully bare on the pages of this book. Eve's relationship with Andrew's hoodie almost deserves a book to itself!

Another reviewer mentioned that this book was very heteronormative, and while I can see this, there is a fantastic moment when Madison is approached about her interest in Andrew (or lack thereof). One of the girls says something to the effect of "Or are you ace or aro? It's okay if you are." Madison has a fantastic response, saying that she is 13, and she just wants to be able to figure herself out without having labels placed on her. The simplest explanation is that Eve and Andrew's friend group is mainly heteronormative. I've seen in middle school that friend groups not only fall along gender lines, but identity lines as well. Even five years ago, students were much more heteronormative and are, in general, straighter than recent middle grade literature would have us believe. Could some LGBTQIA+ characters have been included? Absolutely. But was it realistic to not include them in this story that focused its lens on Eve and Andrew and their small circle of friends so closely? Also absolutely.

I loved this one SO MUCH. At its heart, it was such a sweet romance, with so many clever, funny lines. It had me alternating between snorting out loud and wiping tears from my eyes. I wanted to have a copy in my hand right now to give to my students, and might have mentioned it to patrons who were checking out Richards' Stu Truly or Acampora's Danny Constantino's First Date, two titles that are never on the shelf. This is the best middle grade romance since Heldring's The Football Girl.

Yang, James. Charles & Ray: Designers at Play: A Story of Charles and Ray Eames
May 21, 2024 by Viking Books for Young Readers
Copy provided by the publisher

The design team of Charles and Ray Eames was essential to the look of Mid Century Modern design. So many of the elements that we think of when this design style comes to mind-- molded plywood chairs, whimsical coat racks and lighting fixtures, and blocky color panels-- were their innovations. Charles was an architect, and Ray was a painter, and their disparate disciplines worked well together. They worked together to solve a variety of problems, even using their plywood molding techniques to creat splints for soldiers. They wanted to make a chair that felt organic and was comfortable, and the Eames chair was born. We see echoes of this in the stacking school chairs of today. They also designed small tables, toys, and innovative artwork.

I enjoyed how Yang framed this career biography in terms of the problems that the Eames tried to solve. This adds a good message for young children and will hopefully inspire them to think about ways to approach challenges in their own worlds.

The artwork is exquisite, and unless I am mistaken, a lot of the scenes are set in the Eames House (Case Study House No. 8) in Los Angeles. Yang does a great job of reproducing the style of 1960s picture books (mine are all in my attic, or I would cite specific titles!) while including elements of the Eames' aesthetic. There are many subtle nods to the time period; even the text is Eames Modern Century. The book is even dedicated to George (born 31 July 2022) and Jane Jetson! There could have been a tiny bit more turquoise in the book, but that may be my own personal color palette rather than that of the Eames, who did use a lot more beige than I recall. 

This is a stunning tribute to the influential Mid Century designers, and clearly shows a love of their work. The pictures echo their patterns and designs, and have a great feeling of FUN. This is also a good overview of their work as an introduction to young readers who might not know anything about Mid Century Modern. I loved Yang's note at the end and am envious of his dining room table! While I have read a lot of picture book biographies, there are few about artists and designers of this time. Covering a slightly earlier period, there's Going and Stringer's The Shape of the World: A Portrait of Frank Lloyd Wright, and for art, there's Bryant and Sweet's A Splash of Red: The Life and Art of Horace Pippin and the Kuglers' In Mary's Garden, but I would love to see other biographies about Florence Knoll, Hans Wegner, or Eero Saarinen!

For related picture book information, check out this article! 

https://eyeondesign.aiga.org/why-did-so-many-mid-century-designers-make-childrens-books/