social classes – Mom Read It

Fiction, Middle Grade, Middle School, Realistic Fiction, Tween Reads

Pippa Park is back!

Posted on July 13, 2022July 12, 2022 by Rosemary Kiladitis

Pippa Park: Crush at First Sight, by Erin Yun, (Sept. 2022, Fabled Films Press), $16.99, ISBN: 9781944020804

Ages 9-12

In 2019, Pippa Park Raises Her Game hit middle grade shelves and made a splash: a modern-day take on Charles Dickens’s Great Expectations, with a Korean-American lead character and a group of mean girls who broke all the stereotypes. I devoured the book and have booktalked this to dozens of my library kids. I’m so happy that we’ve got a follow-up to love now, too: Pippa Park: Crush at First Sight picks up shortly after Pippa Park Raises Her Game. Pippa’s getting into the swing of life at her school, she’s kinda sorta a Royal, even though Caroline seems to be trying her best to get Pippa to throw in the towel, and her best friend, Buddy, is now dating Helen. There’s a new crush on the scene, too: Marvel, an old friend, shows up on the scene when Pippa agrees to help volunteer with a local pastor’s drama club and sends Pippa into a tailspin: sure, Eliot is blonde and handsome, but Marvel is fun, makes her laugh, and likes the same things that she does! The fun begins when Pippa rashly agrees to host the Royals’ Christmas party at her sister’s apartment, just as Pippa’s sister takes in a very talkative neighbor, Ms. Lee, who’s recovering from an injury. Pippa hasn’t learned all of her lessons from the last time: she’s still trying to do it all, and putting off disaster for another day.

Pippa Park is such a great character: she’s got great depth, able to move from being bubbly and fun to stressed the heck out, to conflicted, all at once. She’s the very definition of tween! (Okay, and maybe 50, because honestly, I feel like this at least twice a day every day.) Erin Yun includes cultural references, particularly amazing food, and has a brilliant grasp of complex middle school relationships. Her characters are kids that readers know; that may be the kid reading this book. Kids separated from their parents and being raised by other family members; kids stressed about looking good in their friends’ eyes; kids trying to navigate friendship, growing up, and social status. It’s all real, and it’s all here. Here’s hoping we get more Pippa adventures.

Visit the Pippa Park webpage for downloadable resources, including an AAPI Guide and book club kit.

Pippa Park: Crush at First Sight is another slam dunk for Erin Yun. A great add to your shelves.

Graphic Novels, Realistic Fiction, Teen, Young Adult/New Adult

A YA graphic novel about honoring your authentic self: Needle and Thread

Posted on August 3, 2021August 3, 2021 by Rosemary Kiladitis

Needle and Thread, by David Pinckney, Edited by Chris Sanchez/Illustrated by Ennun Ana Iurov, (Oct. 2021, Mad Cave Studios), $17.99, ISBN: 9781952303234

Ages 12 to 16

Noah is a high school senior who dreams of being a costume designer, but his parents are dead-set against his “hobby” being a viable career and pressure him to apply to more traditional colleges and think of a more “reasonable” career. Azarie is the daughter of a politician determined to show a perfect family picture to the public. Azarie is the lead cheerleader and the perfect student, a young woman who’s in with the in crowd, and nurses a secret love of comic books and a desire to be an actress. The two bond over their shared interests, and Noah introduces Azarie to his friends, who welcome her into their circle – much to the chagrin of the Mean Girls in Azarie’s school social circle, and her image-obsessed parents. When introducing Noah’s family to Azarie’s, her father insists that Noah and his first-responder parents (a firefighter and police officer) enter through the back door – the racial implications, atop the social, cannot be denied. But more than a story about an image-obsessed family of social climbers, Needle and Thread is a story about embracing your passions, honoring yourself and your dreams, and pursuing a supportive community. Azarie is welcomed into Noah’s artistic, cosplaying community and grow with that community’s encouragement, while hitting some bumps along the way. Characters are diverse, the story and artwork are interesting and work together to create a full narrative that YA readers will dive into.

Middle Grade, Non-Fiction, Non-fiction, Tween Reads

Shannon Hale Talks Cool Kids, Crybabies, and Real Friends

Posted on May 3, 2017August 5, 2020 by Rosemary Kiladitis

Real Friends, by Shannon Hale/Illustrated by LeUyen Pham, (May 2017, :01 First Second), $12.99, ISBN: 978-1-62672-785-4

Recommended for readers 8-13

How do I even start my gushing over Shannon Hale’s memoir about family, friendship, and growing pains? I’m a Shannon Hale fan and a LeUyen Pham fan; their collaborations – like on one of my favorite chapter book series, Princess in Black – work so well, visually and literally, it’s a treat for the eyes, the imagination, the whole reader is satisfied.

Here, we see young Shannon’s life from Kindergarten through fifth grade in terms of her relationships; with her mother, a series of friends, her troubled and sometimes abusive sister, and with God. Primarily, this is a story of how Shannon struggled with The Group. We all know The Group. Mean Girls was a story about The Group; just about every high school or middle school movie or TV show has a Group. It’s the in-crowd, the girls who make lives miserable for everyone that isn’t part of their group – and sometimes, even for the people in the group. Shannon desperately wants friends, but with friends comes the stress of being part of The Group and putting up with the mind games and backstabbing that is aimed at her by another jealous group member. At home, she tries to navigate relationships with her large family, trying to give her temperamental sister, Wendy, a wide berth.

We see the effects of stress on Shannon, who develops OCD-type behavior and manifests physical ailments often associated with anxiety. We also see how Shannon copes by creating her imaginary worlds – she’s a Wonder Woman, a Charlie’s Angel, a secret agent, and she brings her friends along for the ride. This book is powerful for a girl who, like Shannon, grew up in the ’70s, disappeared into my own imagination, and struggled for years with Groups and backstabbing. I’m an only child, but Shannon could have been writing about me – and that’s how readers will feel reading this book, just like readers do when they read literally anything by Raina Telgemeier.

Readers will know this is their story, whether they’re an 8 year old kid or a 46 year old librarian and book blogger; maybe there’s a boy out there who, like Shannon or Kayla, another character, hides in the bushes so no one will see them crying and make fun of them. Real Friends is painful, real, and beautiful.

Real Friends received a starred review from School Library Journal, and Kirkus offers an interview with Shannon and Dean Hale. Wander over to Shannon Hale’s author page for information on her other books, games and quizzes, and more; LeUyen Pham’s webpage is loaded with neat things to see, including a free, downloadable Love: Pass It On poster, and links to her illustration, Facebook, and book pages.

This one is a no-brainer for collections. Display with Victoria Jamieson’s Roller Girl, Raina Telgemeier’s Smile, and Sisters, and novels like Jennifer L. Holm’s Fourteenth Goldfish, and Dana Alison Levy’s Family Fletcher books. If it’s a display or book talk on self-esteem and standing up to the crowd, make sure to include Kathryn Otoshi’s Zero, One, and Two.

Fiction, Humor, Middle Grade, Realistic Fiction, Tween Reads

Memoirs of a Sidekick – good guys don’t always finish last

Posted on July 6, 2016 by Rosemary Kiladitis

Memoirs of a Sidekick, by David Skuy, (Oct. 2016, Kids Can Press), $16.95, ISBN: 9781771385688

Recommended for ages 9-12

Boris Snodbuckle and his best friend, Adrian, are two students at Bendale Public School. They’re not exactly the most popular kids; Boris and his harebrained plans often put him at the mercy of school bullies and teachers alike, and Adrian’s parents aren’t exactly thrilled with Boris, either. But Boris – “the B-ster” – is endlessly optimistic and just happens to see things differently. He decides to run for student council president, because he wants to make positive changes happen for all the kids across every grade. But Robert, Boris’ chief tormentor, also decides to run, and sets about stealing Boris’ ideas, taking all the credit, and getting the student body to promise their votes to him! Can Boris’ latest wild scheme turn things around?

Memoirs of a Sidekick is built on good values: persistence, optimism, and loyalty, for starters; there’s a strong vein of altruism, with Boris’ desire to take a stand for others. The novel touches on bullying and school social groups, and being a good citizen in the world at large, and there’s a nice emphasis on honesty being the best policy. The book meanders a bit at points, and Boris’ adherence to the Rules he and Adrian live by is relatable, if at times frustrating. Readers will appreciate Boris’ unique way of looking at the world and Adrian’s unflinching loyalty to his best friend.

Memoirs of a Sidekick is a good additional purchase for realistic fiction collections.

Teen, Uncategorized, Young Adult/New Adult

Monica Ropal’s When You Leave – a gripping YA mystery, and an author interview!

Posted on April 8, 2015April 7, 2015 by Rosemary Kiladitis

When You Leave, by Monica Ropal (April 2015, Running Press), $9.95, ISBN: 9780762454556

Recommended for ages 14+

Skater girl Cass has a theory: everyone you love will leave you. Her dad left her; her best friend battled cancer and won, but it took his voice – she still feels the pain from it; her mother, remarried and pregnant, barely notices her or her younger brother, and her stepfather keeps her at arm’s distance. She sticks to her group of skater friends from Frogtown, despite living in a better neighborhood (courtesy of her stepfather) and being enrolled in a private school with the sort of kids who look at Frogtown skaters like something stuck to the bottom of their shoes.

And then, there’s Cooper. One of the popular kids, he’s someone Cass would never dream of having a relationship with – until she does. As soon as their romance begins, it ends when Cooper is brutally murdered, and one of her best friends is the prime suspect. As Cass starts her own investigation to clear her friend’s name, she starts learning more about the kids at school, what she meant to Cooper, and who she can really trust.

Cass is an outsider in her school, feels like an outsider among her own friends, once her family’s circumstances have changed, and an outsider in her own family. She even feels, to some degree, like an outsider in her fledgling relationship with Cooper, who’s not from her social crowd. Even after his death, she tries to find meaning in the relationship. She’s a great character to identify with teens, who often feel like outsiders themselves, for a myriad of reasons.

This is a story that will appeal to mystery and YA romance fans alike. There’s the whole West Side Story, secret romance between two factions to draw readers in, and the whodunit, which hits like a gut punch, and keeps going until the conclusion, where you’re yelling at the book. In a good way. Monica Ropal has created a layered story, told in the first person through a true outsider looking in.

When You Leave is in stores, so make sure you check out a copy on your next bookstore/library trip.

I’m thrilled to present my first MomReadIt author interview! Monica Ropal was kind enough to answer a few questions for me about When You Leave, fandoms, and more. Read on!

MomReadIt: Congrats on an amazing debut novel! What influenced you to write a mystery? Are you a fan of the genre?

Monica Ropal: Thank you very much! I am a huge mystery fan! But specifically my thought, from the start, was to make a very personal and very emotional mystery. Adult mystery tends to be very cerebral, and for YA, I wanted to bring the FEELS. Cass isn’t your typical sleuth. In fact, she is probably the worst person for the job because she has zero objectivity, given how close she is to both the victim and the prime suspect. I think that the fact that she struggles with finding emotional distance and that her perspective is colored by her emotions makes a very interesting point of view.

MRI: When You Leave looks at rival social classes, and how one’s social class affects not only how other kids look at you, but how the law looks at you. Has media coverage of current events influenced you at all when you’re writing?

MR: I think this is an age-old problem. The location in St. Paul, like many big cities, I imagine, has very different socio-economic classes within blocks of each other, and I always thought that was interesting.

MRI: I loved the unspoken communication between Cass and Mattie. He’s kind of like a Greek chorus living in Cass’ head. What influenced your decision to make Mattie unable to speak?

MR: Mattie and Cass have an unusually close relationship. Taking away verbal communication allowed me to show their relationship through physicality and nonverbal communication. Mattie is a very sensitive and emotional person, and I think that not only does he radiate his thoughts and feelings, but that Cass’ radar is particularly in tune to him.

MRI: I was totally thrilled to find out you’re a mom (of three, just like me!) and a fangirl! What are some of your fandoms?

MR: Every day is an adventure with three kiddos. They outnumber you, so you have to plan carefully and strategize. Unfortunately, I am neither well-organized nor strategic, so we have low-key chaos on the daily.

I am heavily into the One Direction fandom, who have been rebranding and appealing to more and more adult listeners, and I predict will be holding the world’s attention this year for more than just their music. (MomReadIt note: I mistakenly thought Monica’s OTP was Harry and Hermione, and mentioned that it was a fabulous OTP – but I stand corrected, as you’ll see!) Harry Potter will always hold a very special place in my heart. But let’s be clear here, Hermione and RON are my OTP. I don’t get righteous about much, but I will get righteous about my OTPs. :0)

Thank you so much for the book love and thank you for hosting me on your blog!

So that’s my big first interview! Thank you again, Monica, and good luck with When You Leave! You can find Monica’s author page at MonicaRopal.com, (where I also borrowed her author picture) and connect with her on Facebook and GoodReads. Follow her on Twitter @MonicaYAwriting.