Middle Grade Monday: Into the Wind by William Loizeaux

Image: Red Chair Press

Middle Grade Monday features Into the Wind by William Loizeaux. 186 p. Red Chair Press, March 2, 2021. 9781947159426. (Review of finished copy courtesy of publisher.)

Middle Grade Monday wishes an early book birthday (tomorrow) to Into the Wind by William Loiseaux. I broke my no-star policy on Goodreads to give this gentle, heartwarming story of intergenerational friendship five. It was just lovely. Rusty is relatable as a tween with a couple of outsized problems - the possibility of repeating fifth grade thanks to failing math and the absence of his mother due to depression. She is in a residential hospital on the mainland trying to recover. It doesn't help that his bossy older sister is particularly obnoxious at home. 

He takes refuge in restoring a sailboat that a neighbor gave him and also in reading about sailing. He's startled one day by the request of an elderly, wheelchair-bound art garage owner. She asks him to take her sailing and then persists when he turns her down. She apologizes for making him uncomfortable and several days later, offers him a job helping her around her cramped and cluttered cottage. He can use the money for outfitting his sailboat and takes the job. 

It's mostly menial labor, but she insists that Rusty do his math homework and have lunch before tackling his chores. The two develop and easy routine and Rusty gets to know this feisty neighbor.

This is slow-paced, introspective and perfect for your readers who like sad but gentle books. Clocking in at 186 pages and containing warm, pencil illustrations, it will also appeal to readers who are still developing stamina. As a land-lubber, I found the sailing descriptions accessible and interesting. 

Between posting a version of this review to Goodreads on February 7 and publishing this post, I came across a thread on Twitter bemoaning the fate of quiet books as unmarketable. I didn't delve deeply into it, but hope that isn't true. Each year, I have a new crop of readers to get to know and in each grade. I have a fair number of thoughtful readers who definitely want quiet books and sometimes I have a challenge finding enough for them, for they tend to be students who love to read. 

I hope that Into the Wind finds its readers. It's a sweet little book with a great big heart and publishes tomorrow. I'm looking forward to book talking this with my students.

Teen Tuesday and Arc Review: The Bridge by Bill Konigsberg

Image: Scholastic

The Bridge by Bill Konigsberg. 400 p. Scholastic Inc. September 1, 2020. 9781338325034. (Review of arc courtesy of publisher.)

Teen Tuesday wishes a happy book birthday to The Bridge by Bill Konigsberg. This uniquely structured book will not be everyone's cup of tea, but it addresses important issues that many teens face - bullying, isolation, depression and suicide. Two New York City teens in crisis go to the George Washington Bridge with the intention of jumping. Both are suffering from severe depression and both have recently suffered humiliation.

Aaron is lonely largely due to self-isolation. He has dreams of becoming an internet sensation with his singing and songwriting. He may or may not be much good. His parents are divorced. His mom is largely absent but his dad is attentive and worried about him. Tillie is bullied relentlessly at school about her weight. She was adopted from Korea when her parents learned they couldn't have biological children. She remembers a time when she felt her father loved her, but since her "miracle" sister was born, she feels isolated and unloved by him.

There are four possible scenarios on the GWB and the author explores them all in four parts. In part one, Tillie jumps and Aaron doesn't. In part two, Aaron jumps and Tillie doesn't. In part three, they both jump and in the final part, neither jumps and they form a tentative friendship. The psychic pain each teen is suffering is exquisitely portrayed as is the aftermath of each choice on the survivors.

Make no mistake, this is a very difficult read. But it's an important one. Suicide is the second leading cause of death among fifteen to twenty-four-year-olds. Back matter contains information about depression and mental health along with resources.

Mature teens who read The Bridge might find themselves more empathetic to others and learn to lean towards kindness and compassion instead of cruelty. Adults may be less apt to write off teens having difficulty coping as "teen angst."

Middle Grade Monday: Give and Take by Elly Swartz

Image: Macmillan

Give and Take by Elly Swartz. 314 p. Farrar Straus and Giroux/ Macmillan Publishers, October, 2019. 9780374308216. (Review of arc courtesy of publisher.)

Middle Grade Monday features Give and Take by Elly Swartz. Change is hard! Children in particular, might have a hard time coping with change, especially when it brings sadness, as is Maggie's case. She's been hit by a triple-whammy of change. Maggie's beloved grandmother recently died, but before that, she suffered from dementia. One day, her grandmother just forgot who Maggie was. So Maggie began saving things in order not to forget anything in her life. Only these weren't just memorable objects. They were odd things, like gum wrappers and empty milk containers. 

Then she finds out that her shooting coach father has invited a boy to join her all girl trap-shooting team! And, when her family temporarily fosters a newborn named Isabella, Maggie becomes attached. Even though her mother cautions that the situation is only temporary, Maggie hopes Izzy will stay. Her compulsion to save/ hoard gets out of control. And so does her anger. When her mother discovers her hoard of stuff and cleans, Maggie loses it.

Swartz excels at writing sympathetic tweens struggling with anxiety and mental illness. (Finding Perfect) Maggie has a loving and supportive family who firmly but lovingly put her in the care of a behavioral psychologist to get at the root of her problem. Along the way, readers meet her wide circle of friends and learn a bit about trap-shooting. 

What a wonderful story! I have such fierce love for everything about this book from the amazing cover to the end notes with resources. Give and Take is a great addition to any school, public or classroom library!

Audiobook Review: How It Feels to Float by Helena Fox

Image: Penguin Random House

How It Feels to Float by Helena Fox. Unabridged e-audiobook, ~10 hours. Read by Candace Moll. Listening Library/ Penguin Random House, May, 2019. 9781984885562. (Review of e-audio borrowed from public library. Arc courtesy of publisher.)

Seventeen-year-old Biz has a close relationship with her dad. She loves it when he sits at the foot of her bed and tells her stories about when she was born and her early childhood. The problem is that Biz's father died when she was seven. She lives with her mum and six-year-old twin brother and sister in Wollongong, Australia. 

She's indifferent about school. She has a best friend in Grace, whom she kissed, but Grace doesn't "like her like that." The two are nominally part of "The Posse," but more orbiting than central. There's a new boy named Jasper whom Biz finds intriguing though he doesn't seem to like her much. But then, he rescues her from the sea when she ventures out too far one night while partying in the dunes with her posse. 

Later, there is an incident in the dunes involving Tim, and Biz and Grace find themselves ostracized. Grace and Biz make some questionable choices and Grace is packed off to live far away with her father. The worst part is that Biz's dad stops visiting. So she goes in search of him. She thinks that if she visits the places where he was happy, she will find him.

I failed absolutely in my attempt to summarize this utterly devastating yet beautiful debut! How It Feels to Float is one of the best books depicting grief and mental illness I have ever read. Knock, knock! Morris Committee, Printz Committee? Are you listening? Oh, and Odyssey Committee! The audiobook is astounding. Candace Moll's performance is pitch perfect. 

Biz charms and compels from the start, but as the reader is drawn in, cracks begin in her facade and one begins to wonder if this is a work of magical realism. Then one wonders what is real besides her dad's ghost. Make no mistake, this is a harrowing read. Biz lives with a loving family, her siblings adore her and her mother is involved; but even she can't discern the depth of Biz's mental illness. She makes increasingly dangerous choices in her desperate quest to find her father. My heart was in my throat for much of the book. The resolution was hopefully realistic. No neat tidying up here. 

How It Feels to Float should be on everyone's to-read list. It's themes are a bit mature for my crowd at middle school, but it is a first-purchase for all high school and YA library collections. 

#tbt: Get Well Soon by Julie Halpern

Get Well Soon by Julie Halpern. 208 p. Feiwel and Friends, October, 2007. 9780312367954. (Own)

This epistolary novel consists of the thoughts of sixteen-year-old Anna Bloom, who has been involuntarily committed to a mental hospital. She is having panic attacks that prevent her from going to school and, well, generally functioning. While there, she falls into a routine of dysfunctional but oddly funny group therapy sessions. She also develops friendships and a experiences a crush before being released to her parents care. Will she be alright out in the real world?

This short novel is a quick and compelling read. Anna is snarky, bright and often quite funny. Get Well Soon was the author's debut. She wrote a sequel, Have a Nice Day, in 2012.

Backlash by Sarah Darer Littman

Backlash by Sarah Darer Littman. 321 p. Scholastic Press/ Scholastic Inc., April, 2015. 9780545651264. (Finished copy courtesy of publisher for review.)

Fragile sophomore, Lara Kelly, attempts suicide after her online crush disses her publicly on Facebook. As if that wasn't hurtful enough, the comments that follow are hateful. Her eighth grade sister, Sydney, angry that Lara's been hogging the bathroom, realizes that it's too quiet in there and calls her mother to break the door down. Lara's ex-best friend and neighbor, Bree films Lara being wheeled on a stretcher to a waiting ambulance and posts the video- which prompts another avalanche of "likes" and comments. 

Ah, social media and the immediacy of unbridled, uncensored, unfiltered comments. Add to that the questionable decision-making skills of hormone-addled teens and we've got a new age of bullying. It's now 24/7, not just a fight after school in the parking lot. Even a casual glance at the comments section in most online outlets reveals that cyberbullying is not just a teen-age thing. Adults are jumping in, usually anonymously.

Lara's sophomore year was looking up for her. She successfully lost the weight that earned her such nicknames as Lardo and even made the cheering squad. This was after years of angst and therapy and, according to Syd, the world revolving around Lara. Syd feels guilty over feeling anger at the timing of Lara's suicide attempt, which prevented her from trying out for a coveted part in the school play.

Syd's not the only one tired of Lara's angst. Bree, her former best friend is as well. The story switches points of view between then and now and Lara, Syd, Bree and Bree's brother, Liam. Turns out, Bree created a fake FB page for Christian, Lara's crush. Lara knew she was violating her parents' rule when she friended a boy she didn't know. They had friends in common and he was good-looking and Lara was flattered. She quickly shared details of her life and fell for Christian, who seemed to return her feelings. 

I read this in one sitting. While there were a few false notes that threatened to take me out of the story, on a whole, it was timely and utterly compelling - like train wreck compelling. There's a message here, but it's an important one. The author illuminates many of the pitfalls of the dangers of social media as well as the nuances of sibling and best friend relationships. I enjoyed the shifting points of view, especially Sydney's and Liam's. 

This book could not have come at a more perfect time. Earlier this week, an eighth grader returned I Swear by Lane Davis. He wanted another just like it so I gave him Butter by Erin Jade Lange. He's plowing through that and told me yesterday, in the hallway that I need to find more books like those two. Phew! Thank you Sarah Darer Littman for writing this at just the right time. And, thanks to Scholastic for the opportunity to review it. I am certain Backlash won't spend much time on the shelf.