Tag: multiple perspectives

REVIEW: The Perfect Star by Rob Buyea

REVIEW: The Perfect Star by Rob Buyea

Posted on by Jaymie

[I received an electronic review copy of this book from Netgalley and Delacorte Books for Young Readers in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.]

Summary

Eighth grade begins for the stars of The Perfect Score series.

  • Gavin is playing football after overcoming all the hassles from last year. After a summer with no coach, the team finally has one, but the unconventional choice leads to drama for the school and community.
  • Randi’s future in gymnastics is up in the air after a serious injury.
  • Natalie is leading the group once again, this time as they start up a school newscast in place of the newspaper.
  • Trevor and Natalie are still dating, but it’s causing a major rift in Trevor and Mark’s friendship.
  • Scott is enthusiastic about everything from being the weatherman on the newscast to being the stat guy for the football team. But his enthusiasm for protecting the new football coach leads to some issues.

And that’s just the beginning of an 8th grade year that is going to challenge these kids and draw them together tighter than ever.

Review

Wow. This was so good! It’s been delightful to watch these kids grow up and grow together over the three books in this series. And I LOVE this group of kids – even more than I loved the group in the author’s previous series. They are quirky and genuine and flawed and family to one another.

So much happens in this book (including at least one “suspend disbelief here” moment), but it all holds together around the idea of this core group getting older and gaining some maturity as well as compassion and empathy for others. Family, friendship, and football are major themes, but this also touches on homelessness, insurance and health care, grief, bullying, and dating (hand holding, peck on the cheeks/lips). This book is perfect for middle school readers in its richness and depth.

When I talk with readers about stories told from the perspective of several characters, I always end up talking about Rob Buyea‘s books. He writes these great, nuanced characters, and then turns them loose to tell their stories in their own ways. And I fall in love with the stories every time.

Don’t miss this one!

Rating: ♥♥♥♥½

BONUS REVIEW: The Class by Frances O'Roark Dowell

BONUS REVIEW: The Class by Frances O’Roark Dowell

Posted on by Jaymie

[I received an electronic review copy of this book from Netgalley and Antheneum in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.]

Summary and Review

Mrs. Herrera’s class of 6th graders is an eclectic group of students. She has popular kids, and jocks and nice kids and brainy kids. Ellie is one of the new kids. She’s a writer – an observer – a spy. And when something happens in the class, her observations are a foundation for the rest of the story.

This is an unusual book. There are a ton of perspectives in this. Twenty different kids chime in to tell the story. It was hard at times to keep track of everyone. Then it took half the book for the class-impacting event to happen. And when it did, it felt small to me. It didn’t have a very big punch.

From the description I thought this would be 20 perspectives on the same moment/day/event where each subsequent story would fill in what really happened. [I was expecting something like the first part of the amazing book, The Candymakers, where each of the four characters tells their version of the A part of the story before moving back to the main character’s perspective for the wrap up of the book. It’s part of what makes The Candymakers so brilliant.] Instead, this was one story arc, and each kid told part of it as it moved along.

This format and story didn’t work for me. I struggled to stay engaged. I didn’t know the characters well enough to have them drive me from page to page through the story. And then there wasn’t a lot of action or punch to the “event” to drive me on either. I struggled to stick with this. I won’t be posting a rating for this one.

When it comes to multiple perspective stories, I prefer a Rob Buyea story or something like The Reckless Club. I think those are stronger examples of the format – fewer characters and higher stakes.

Other readers have found this delightful, so if the premise sounds interesting to you, check it out. It wasn’t a good fit for me.