Review by New York Times Review
How can middle schoolers be themselves, but still find their people? These books search for an answer. of the many strange paradoxes that bedevil our tween years - years that most of us would never, ever wish to relive - few perplex more thoroughly than the tension between wanting to be a confident, competent, standout individual, while at the same time yearning with a desire almost beyond expression to be accepted into a community, a group, a team, a club, a clique - anything. That old American saw about selfreliance may be compelling in an Emerson essay, but it doesn't hold up well when you're in a school cafeteria, holding a tray loaded with soggy burritos, looking for the friendly place to sit without seeming to be looking for the friendly place to sit. And it's this paradox that looms large in these new novels, each of which suggests the extraordinary complexity of negotiating this tension between individuality and community. The journey toward resolution, these authors suggest, is more inward than most middle schoolers might imagine. june harper, the rebel librarian of Allison Varnes's property of the rebel librarian (RANDOM HOUSE, 288 PP., $16.99; AGES 8 TO 12), begins her journey with a growing recognition that the extreme, almost bizarre strictures her parents place on her life are more than abnormal, they are unjust. Her growing anger at being expected to remain under their total domination is matched only by her growing anger at her sister, who has fled to college, abandoning June to their fierce control. When her books are taken away from her and later returned, mangled by censorious black pens and mauled by the removal of pages, and when her parents' influence leads to the censorship of the school library and the development of a cadre of young censors, June is thrust into the role of the "rebel librarian," building an underground library in the locker beside her own, and leading an ever-enlarging group of students into a literary revolution against the school administration and, by proxy, her parents. In our censorious times, that battle and the extremes through which it is depicted are enough to keep the pages turning. But - and I'm so sorry to sound like Dumbledore here - it is the choices that June makes about her own life that give this novel its solidity and meaning. In becoming the "rebel librarian," June is turning away from the groups that defined her in the past, which she had hoped would define her in the future. These include her family - which had planned her entire life - her new (and first) boyfriend, and the close friends she has had for years. It is an act of remarkable courage, no less powerful and no less painful because she comes to it incrementally, as she grows more and more committed to her new identity. Because Allison Varnes is a gentle writer - imagine this same scenario in the hands of, say, Robert Cormier - June finds that her new identity actually leads to a new belonging, to other kids who love books as much as she does. Who knew? If the happy ending is a bit too happy, the conclusion still leads you to the gentle thought that negotiating individuality and communality can lead to a satisfying selfrealization. NEITHER PABLO cartaya nor Antony John leaves things quite so easily. In marcus VEGA DOESN'T SPEAK SPANISH (VIKING, 272 PP., $16.99; AGES 8 TO 12), MarCUS, who tOWers physically over his fellow eighth graders, is defined in his school as a bully - mostly because he looks the part. Outside of his family, he doesn't belong in any group because everyone - including some of his teachers - believe his assigned role is all that he is. Even his family group is fractured, however; his father did not come with the family when they left Puerto Rico for Pennsylvania, and they haven't seen him for a decade. But in that fracture, as his mother works long hours to support her two sons, we see what is most true about Marcus: his devotion to his brother, who lives with Down syndrome. The sweet yet unsentimental scenes between them are some of the novel's most powerful. When his mother finds a way to bring them to Puerto Rico for a week, Marcus is thrilled; he will be able to track down and connect with his long-lost father. What he finds is something much larger: an extended family that has been waiting for them all these years, whose love is grace, whose hospitality is a blessing, whose connection is not strained. So when Marcus finally finds his father, he comes to clarity about what his father has done and what his absence has really meant. Despite the pain of this, Marcus knows that he can still live: "I always thought I wanted to see you. ... To let you meet my brother, who is the coolest kid in the world. But you never answered. You never even tried. I just want you to know that you're not the hero in this story." And so, "I put my father away forever." Marcus can say this only out of the strength he has found from a new belonging with his larger family. Cartaya's is a leisurely novel; the pace will not be rushed. In the era of superhero films, this is wonderful - and entirely appropriate for what is, in the end, a love song to the people of Puerto Rico, whose own love and hospitality and acceptance is so vividly portrayed here. It is also a realistic novel. Not all endings are happy. Not all breakage is healed. this realism is what Antony John uses to begin MASCOT (HARPER/HARPERCOLLINS, 336 pp., $16.99; ages 8 to 12). A car accident has paralyzed Noah Savino, and his father, who died in the crash, was at fault.He has lost his sense of self, and he resents the endless therapy sessions that seem to lead nowhere. He fears that the only identity he now has is that of the pathetic kid in the wheelchair. Perhaps worse, he no longer belongs to his St. Louis Little League team. Noah was the star catcher who made the star pitcher so capable. Now, his old teammates mock him, and the pain of that is not particularly lessened by the fact that the new kid to whom Noah seems to have been attached is nicknamed "Double-Wide." Thus Noah begins his journey, knowing that he has lost himself and lost his team and lost his father. Everything, he thinks, is gone, and in his anger and hurt and despair, he embraces that loss. His bitterness will be his new identity. When a teacher rearranges an assignment toward Noah's interests, a lot more suddenly "becomes clear: today's baseball-themed work sheet wasn't for everyone. It was for me. A gift. An attempt to cheer me up. To get me talking again. To remind me of better times. And what did I do? Like a Cardinals fan catching an opponent's home-run ball, I threw it right back at him." The strength and beauty of this novel lie in the ways in which a community gathers around Noah, despite his bitterness. And here, Antony John is relentless in his honesty, for this is a community of broken people: his mother, who is already dealing with the grief of losing her husband; his neighbor, who has lost his spouse, and whom Noah resents for loving his mother; Alyssa, who sees past the wheelchair, but whom Noah had treated badly; DoubleWide, whose honesty and forthrightness bring startling clarity; and his coach's family, for whom Noah will become an instrument of forgiveness. You'll bawl at the ending, because it is so very real. The answer to the middle-grade question of whether we should be self-reliant individuals or part of a larger community is that, in the end, we become both. These three novels shine a light on how difficult it is for a middle-grade kiddo - for any of us - to come to that answer, and how much more difficult it is to embark on the journey that leads to that becoming. gary D. SCHMIDT'S latest book, "So Tall Within: Sojourner Truth's Long Walk Toward Freedom," will be published in September.
Copyright (c) The New York Times Company [August 23, 2019]
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
When 12-year-old June's father finds a library book he deems inappropriate among her belongings, her protective parents go on a censoring rampage, taking away the book and auditing her personal library-even, eventually, rewriting the end to Old Yeller. Before she knows it, they've called a PTA meeting, removed books from the school library ("It's called a book extraction," her father says), and gotten the librarian suspended. When June discovers a Little Free Library along a new route to school, and other kids learn that she has access to books, June soon finds herself running an underground library. Her crush, Graham, has asked her out, but his participation in the censorship has her questioning their relationship, especially after she meets new book-loving friends. When a school witch hunt for anyone with banned books reveals June's role, she must decide if she has the strength to fight for the right to read. Debut author Varnes's painting of overbearing parents occasionally feels over the top (their book rewrites extend to pasting over fart jokes), but the farcical take also drives home important points about bureaucracy, oversight, and freedom. Ages 8-12. (Sept.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
Gr 4-7-To say 12-year-old June is passionate about books would be an understatement. Luckily, she has a great school librarian, Ms. Bradshaw, to feed her voracious appetite. But when her strict parents decide her latest check-out, The Makings of a Witch, is inappropriate, they start an all-out war against the freedom to read. Ms. Bradshaw is suspended, the majority of the books are removed from the school library, and students may only read from a list of approved titles. Fortunately for the students at Oakwood Middle, June is an activist in training. She starts an underground library filled with books from fellow students and the town's Little Free Library. Before she knows it, June is the most popular girl in school and reading is the coolest thing to do. This debut novel tackles the issue of censorship in a humorous and engaging way. June is a worthy and winsome heroine who is sure to charm. Every book title mentioned in the story is included in a list at the end. VERDICT This funny and fast read could be used to fuel discussions about book banning, censorship in general, and activism.-Tiffany Davis, Mount Saint Mary College, Newburgh, NY © Copyright 2018. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
After seventh grader June Harper's ultra-strict parents catch her reading a book they deem inappropriate, they launch a campaign to remove the school librarian and many of the books in the library. June starts a secret lending library in her locker and discovers a stronger, braver side of herself. Despite some underdeveloped characters, this is a snappy story of rebellion that should galvanize young book lovers. (c) Copyright 2019. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Seventh-grader June Harper sets up a secret lending library when her school decides to ban books.When June's overprotective father finds a school library copy of a book called The Makings of a Witch, her parents put pressure on the school to place Ms. Bradshaw, the school librarian, on administrative leave and, in addition to emptying June's home library, to strip the school library of anything deemed inappropriate. "Students in possession of unapproved texts will face disciplinary action," reads the board resolution, and teachers will be fired. As a rule-follower, June is conflicted, but she can't help feeling that this is wrong. Compounding her confusion are her reciprocated crush on eighth-grader Graham, who asks her to lie low and choose between him and books, and her best friend, Emma, who sympathizes with Graham. When June finds a Little Free Library in her neighborhood, she is inspired to create a contraband lending library in an abandoned locker. This quickly grows into a movement, if only users can keep it a secret. Varnes' debut is a straightforward advocacy book for children's right to make their own reading choices. Most characters default white except for brown-skinned implied Latina Abby Rodriguez. June's narration is sometimes clumsy, and some characters, such as June's parents, are thinly developed and come across as extreme. The ending, however, is realistically open-ended.An accessible introduction to the importance of the freedom to read. (Fiction. 8-12) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
