I am hot and cold on Lucy Knisley’s stuff, to be honest. However, I was pretty excited about this middle grade realistic fiction graphic novel, which I knew would be a hit with my students. I really liked this, though I felt upset knowing (from reading ahead of time and then from her afterward) that it was very much a true memoir. Her mom’s boyfriend is a dick who puts her down and her mom doesn’t stand up for her. Her mom and mom’s boyfriend seem pretty demanding (we’ve moved to the country but you have all the chores and are soley responsible for caring for chickens you didn’t even want.) as well as uncaring of her feelings (taking the boyfriend’s children’s side without seeing what’s really happening.) I felt so so outraged on her behalf and upset that none of the adults really acknowledged how wrong that all was. I do think a lot of kids will relate to the “adults in my life make decisions that affect me but I just have to go along with it because I’m a kid” aspect. I’m curious how kids will react to this.
The Last Book I Read 