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Tween Tuesday: Planet Middle School by Nikki Grimes

Tween Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted at GreenBeanTeenQueen to highlight great reads for tweens! Join the fun and add your link below.

Rating: 3/5 Stars

Genre: Contemporary/Novel in Verse

Release Date: 9/13/2011

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About the Book: Joylin is finding herself at the crossroads of middle school. She's always been content the way she is, playing basketball and enjoying her friend's. But now her best girl friend is flirting with her best guy friend and basketball seems different. Then Joylin notices Santiago and suddenly her clothes aren't right, she wants Santiago to notice her, and Joylin is feeling a bit left out. Why does middle school have to be so confusing?

GreenBeanTeenQueen Says: Planet Middle School is a short and sweet novel in verse. I listened to this book on audio and while I could tell it was written in verse, it still worked well on audio. I really enjoyed the narrator and she really drew me into the story and made Jaylin come to life.

The book itself is short (the audiobook is just over an hour), but I felt with the narration the character's came to life. I felt for Jaylin and the confusing time middle school can be. She's always been a bit tomboyish and now that she's interested in Santiago, she feels she has to change.

Because of the length, the book wraps up fairly quickly with Jaylin learning a lesson about life a bit too easily. I did like that the ending is not fairy tale-ish but instead rings true and realistic-and Jaylin is OK with that. I think the subject matter of navigating the tricky time of change in middle school is covered nicely. Give this to tweens looking for a quick, relatable a read.

Full Disclosure: Reviewed from audiobook version checked out from my local library
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Comments

  1. Fourth MusketeerDecember 6, 2011 at 2:44 PM

    Hi, today I have a book perfect for tweens by debut author Katherine Schlick Noe, Something to Hold.

    http://fourthmusketeer.blogspot.com/2011/12/book-review-something-to-hold-by.html

    ReplyDelete
  2. does i doser workDecember 7, 2011 at 12:02 AM

    Reading has been more of a passion than just a hobby to me. Middle school lessons always make a good read to me.

    ReplyDelete

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