September 29, 2026 by G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers
E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus
Ami (that's AH-mee) and her friend Ivy have enjoyed each other's company for a long time, and like to get together in Ami's treehouse to film their movie. As middle school starts, they are assigned to different teams, so rarely see each other. Ivy seems to have friends in her classes, so Ami's lies about the things that she does with her time, even though she eats alone in the school library, thanks to an understanding Mrs. Hassan. Ami's classmates have been together for a while, and she doesn't want to insert herself into their groups, especially since she has had a tendency to blush in class and has gotten the nickname "Tomato". When she is assigned a class project about Egyptian deities with Karan, Abby, and Em, she enjoyed being part of a group and having people to talk to, even though they all blow off a study session at her house and she ends up making the group poster on her own. Feeling emboldened by her new social group, Ami asks Ivy if she can enter their film in the talent show. Ivy says absolutely not, since she thinks the film will embarass her in front of her crush, Peter. Ami shows the film anyway, and Ivy pulls out the flash drive halfway through the showing to the entire school. Afterwards, Ami is depicted as having a fog around her head in this graphic novel. She stays home from school and doesn't care about anything, even when Cleo mentions that she like to do stop motion clay animation films. Eventually, she talks to her older sister, Sasha, about all of this when Sasha is home from college. Sasha encourages her to talk to Ivy, and the girls iron things out. Ami also confides in her mother for support. Eventually, Ami is in a better place where she is brave enough to east in the cafeteria after thanking Mrs. Hassan for letting her eat in the library.
Strengths: Oh, the dreaded schedule. It's always hard when students are in classes without their friends; it's one of the reasons I'm not a huge fan of our 6th grade teaming. That said, when I was in 7th grade and my friend Jenny stopped talking to me, I had every single class with my friend Lori, and we became very close! Ami struggles in a realistic way, and isn't quite sure how to change things. The depiction of the group project will speak to anyone who has ever done more than their fair share of work when assigned to a bunch of slackers! I loved that Sasha and the mother were supportive when Ami finally asked for help.
Weaknesses: It was somewhat difficult to read the parts of the book that were the girls' film. The story within a story format is never a personal favorite of mine, so younger readers with stronger eyesight won't mind this at all. Also, I'm still not understanding school librarians that have room for students to eat lunch there. Anyone trying that in my library would find themselves in the middle of classes!
Weaknesses: It was somewhat difficult to read the parts of the book that were the girls' film. The story within a story format is never a personal favorite of mine, so younger readers with stronger eyesight won't mind this at all. Also, I'm still not understanding school librarians that have room for students to eat lunch there. Anyone trying that in my library would find themselves in the middle of classes!
What I really think: The one unforgiving rule about middle school is that it's highly likely that you will lose at least one friend. I will purchase this, because it has a realistic and helpful look at how friendships can change. Hand this graphic novel to fans of Vivat's Frazzled, Scrivan's Nat Enough, and Libenson's Invisible Emmie.
September 22, 2026 by HarperAlley
E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus
E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus
Toby is very crabby and fights with Mrs. Moore the art teacher during class. She is assigned a lunch detention that she has to serve with Layla and Reed. The supervising teacher steps out briefly to the playground to deal with an issue there, and Toby talks reluctantly to the other kids, who discuss why lunch detentions aren't really helpful in curbing undesirable behavior. After the teacher comes back, Mrs. Moore enters and accuses Toby of putting all of the other students' art in the trash, since she had put her own picture there, and schedules a meeting with her parents. Toby is even more angry, but Layla and Reed offer to help her investigate and find the real culprit. The trio travel around the school, evading authorities, and finally solve not only what happened to the paintings but also why Toby is so angry.
I had a lot of doubts about whether the children would be allowed to skulk around the school; we take attendance very seriously in my school, and about five minutes after the three skipped class, there would have been an all call on the announcements having them report to the office, and the school resource officer and principals would have been around checking bathrooms and security cameras. Oddly, I was perfectly fine with Evans' Audrey Covington Breaks the Rules where the main character and her grandmother are on the loose in Hollywood with a golf cart.
This would be a good book for elementary school readers, since the reason for Toby's anger and acting out is that her parents are getting divorced. The way that everything is handled seemed more appropriate to younger students, so I will probably pass on purchase, but would definitely take a look at this one for an elementary library.
No comments:
Post a Comment