A few of my students read this book last spring at school at told me it was their favorite. Another librarian told me last week how much she loved it. So, this one moved up on my TBR pile. They were not wrong...it is a book I will recommend as well. It is an impressive novel from a debut author.
Calliope (Calli) June Snow is a middle schooler who loves astronomy, collects rocks and has moved numerous times because her widowed mother is chasing her "getting a husband" dream. Calli also has Tourette's Syndrome and was advised by a doctor to not tell people of her condition. Of course as a continual new student, because of all of her moves, she is targetted as a weird kid and her unexplained tics do not help.
Callie's neighbor, Jinsong, also lives in the apartment building that she lives in, goes to her school and is the student body president. He is intrigued by this new girl and crushes on her. However, the teasing and tormenting by the rest of the school are difficult for Jinsong to deal with. He has to figure out how to navigate the mean spirited group dynamics.
Calli and Jinsong are both narrators in this free verse and narrated book and the reader is privileged to a dual point of view. It is a love story and coming of age book, full of middle school anxiety and lessons of doing the right thing.
This is another one of those great books that teachers need to read to students and students need to read. It is beautifully written. Sometimes I just had to reread the verses....they were so delightful. It is also a quick read since more than half of the book is written in verse. Calli has a tough life and she teaches the reader about dealing with disappointment, resiliency, dreams, and life. I give it a 5 out of 4 rating! I recommend it highly!
- Age Range: 10 - 13 years
- Grade Level: 5 - 8
- Reading Level: 4.1
- Hardcover: 336 pages
- Publisher: Feiwel & Friends; 1st Edition edition (March 14, 2017)
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