Tag: Stacy McAnulty

REVIEW: Millionaires for the Month by Stacy McAnulty

REVIEW: Millionaires for the Month by Stacy McAnulty

Posted on by Jaymie

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

Summary

Felix Rannells is a rule follower. Benji Porter is a rule exploder. Benji doesn’t just bend rules or break rules – sometimes he outright destroys them. They are the odd couple of their field trip pairings.

When Felix finds a wallet on the sidewalk during their lunch break, he wants to turn it in. Benji sees it as a chance to get some lunch since he left his at home by mistake. He insists he’ll pay the person back. He even uses the $20 he takes to get Felix food, too.

Then the boys discover the wallet belongs to Laura Friendly, a billionaire. Benji insists that $20 to her is like a penny to normal folks. And they’re just “borrowing it.” Felix know they actually STOLE the money, but he doesn’t have $10 to pay back his half. And while Benji will be able to get money from his parents, Felix’s mom doesn’t have money just lying around. They are barely getting by as it is.

When Laura Friendly confronts the boys about the theft, Benji mouths off about his “penny” theory which gives the billionaire an idea. A penny, doubled, every day for a month is more than $5 million. She’ll give the boys that much money and they will have one month to spend it – with some restrictions. If they can pull it off, they will each get $10 million.

Review

This has a Brewster’s Millions feel to it (it’s a movie starring Richard Pryor from 1985), and I was here for all of it! I first encountered Stacy McAnulty’s work when I fell in love with her debut, The Miscalculations of Lightning Girl. She’s an author I watch very closely because I never want to miss her latest release. You aren’t going to want to miss this one, either. When I read the plot, I was immediately sold. And the book did not disappoint.

I loved Felix and Benji from the start. Even though they are very different guys, there’s something endearing about each of them. Felix is very aware of his family’s financial situation, and he wishes they had a little more breathing room. Benji generally has whatever material things he needs, but he’s looking for significance, and approval from his parents. Through the novel, not only do they each grow individually, but they also grow to be friends. I loved watching their journey.

Ms. Friendly is a fascinating character. Not much like her name, though. The boys learn a lot with her challenge, and I think she grows to like them. I loved watching her relationship with them over the course of the story.

I think this would make a fun classroom read-aloud or a book club selection. Anyone who has ever daydreamed what they’d do with a million dollars will be able to identify with these boys and their secret financial challenge. I loved how it played out over the month and how it wrapped up in the end. This is my favorite sort of middle grade novel – kids you love in fascinating circumstances who learn and grow over time. Do not miss this one! (LGBTQ+)

Rating: ♥♥♥♥½*

*♥♥♥♥½ – Loved it! Would read again!

REVIEW: The World Ends in April by Stacy McAnulty

REVIEW: The World Ends in April by Stacy McAnulty

Posted on by Jaymie

Summary

Elle’s grandfather is a “prepper,” a survivalist. He is always prepared for a disaster or catastrophe. And he’s trained Elle and her younger brothers to be ready for unexpected disaster at any time. All three kids have go bags full of ready-to-eat meals, first aid supplies, etc.. Elle’s getting older, though, and she finds most of the survivalist stuff eye-rollingly dull. But her brothers still find the drills fun, and Elle’s best friend Mack thinks the whole thing is fascinating.

On a search for end-of-the-world memes to share with her grandfather, Elle stumbles across a website that says the world will end next spring due to an asteroid strike. She’s appropriately skeptical. But when she finds out the author of the web post is a professor at Harvard, and she researches other asteroid hits, Elle starts to wonder if the guy is onto something.

When other kids at school overhear Elle and Mack talking about “TEOTWAWKI” (The End of the World As We Know It), they beg for more information and check out the website for themselves. Before long, Elle finds herself leading a club of kids who want to know how to prepare for the asteroid strike and the end of the world.

Review

Elle grew on me over the course of this book. By the end I was quite attached to her, and my heart broke for her as things played out at the end of the story.

On one level this is Elle’s story. It’s about her family dynamics and her school experiences. It’s about her friendships and her protective abrasiveness. On another level you get all the science and survival bits along with information on screening internet sources. I was intrigued by the asteroid information shared. There’s a good chunk of back matter in this about asteroids and the author’s research.

I think this would be an excellent class read-aloud or book club book. How do readers see Elle’s choices for informing her peers about the impending doom? Are there things they are as passionate about as Elle? So many threads of the story students can dig into! And reading this with support will ensure some kids who might not otherwise get it understand Elle’s devotion to her cause. I thoroughly enjoyed how the author pulled everything together in the end.

Fans of the extraordinary The Miscalculations of Lightning Girl (like me!) should not miss the author’s latest work. If you aren’t a fan of either title yet, be sure to check them both out!

Rating: ♥♥♥♥

REVIEW: The Miscalculations of Lightning Girl by Stacy McAnulty

REVIEW: The Miscalculations of Lightning Girl by Stacy McAnulty

Posted on by Jaymie

Summary

When Lucy was 8, she was hit by lightning. It stopped her heart for a couple minutes and activated part of her brain in a new way. Now Lucy is a mathematical genius. She can calculate long, complicated math problems in her head. It’s an awesome gift.

Because of her math gift, Lucy could go to college even though she is only 12. But Lucy’s grandmother is concerned that Lucy has missed some of the “soft skills” that other kids pick up in school and in activities with their peers. So they make a deal. Lucy needs to spend one year in seventh grade – make one friend, try one activity, read one book that isn’t about math. If Lucy does that for a year, she can then go to college or wherever she wants to go with her education.

Middle school is tough for any kid. Add in the fact that Lucy has been homeschooled for four years, she’s a math genius (which she wants to keep secret), and she has several OCD compulsions, and the difficulty level increases quite a bit. But Lucy has a lot to offer her new school if she’ll give it a try. She might even surprise herself along the way.

Review

This was exceptionally good! I adored Lucy and the other characters in this book. From the beginning I loved Lucy’s pre-teen awkwardness and her love of all things math. She has this fantastic confidence when it comes to her gift and when she is in settings where she feels safe. But she’s cautious in places – like school – where she doesn’t want to stand out any more than she already does with her compulsions (she has a sitting ritual as well as cleaning and counting compulsions).

As if Lucy wasn’t awesome enough on her own, she also finds a group. Through a school project Lucy finds true friendships as well as a place to put her math gift to use in the real world. It’s such a cool part of the story.

I thought this was realistic, too. Crummy things happen at school. People don’t understand Lucy’s compulsions (in part because she doesn’t open up about it, like with the English teacher). A few kids are unkind. Lucy struggles to find her voice and figure out where she wants to use it. Her problems don’t magically resolve at the end of the story. But great things happen for and through Lucy. And it was a treat to read her story. This will be a favorite for 2018. I highly recommend this for older elementary and middle school readers. Fans of Counting by 7s and Finding Perfect might enjoy this as well as readers who love fantastic, rich characters in their stories.

Many thanks to Netgalley and Random House for the opportunity to read an electronic review copy of this outstanding book! All opinions are my own.

Rating: ♥♥♥♥♥