Both girls are back in high school in America. I don’t really care for this book because it somehow feels like filler. The best part of this book is tBoth girls are back in high school in America. I don’t really care for this book because it somehow feels like filler. The best part of this book is the unpopular side characters. I don’t like this series in general despite some good individual entries, and this book is proof of that....more
This was a weird one. Overambitious, with lots of crazy ideas wrapped up in a space pie. Just the sort of thing I loved to read as a kiddo interested This was a weird one. Overambitious, with lots of crazy ideas wrapped up in a space pie. Just the sort of thing I loved to read as a kiddo interested in science.
Joss is the youngest son in a family of space immortals. They aren’t deities even though they control the universe. The worldbuilding in this story is overstuffed, but thought-provoking. Imaging all my headcanons and ideas for how everything fits together was like a great meal for ten year old me. His counterpart is Annika, who isn’t as interesting but has more character traits.
This book made me feel existentialist and way more interested in science and physics. It may corrupt a kid leading her to deny the existence of one big G-d. The plot is kinda thin and the characters slightly underdeveloped, but the writing is strong and I loved this book anyway....more
I quite liked this book when I read it as a young un. Amy Flowers, despite having a tinge of “not like other girls”, is not mean and is a rootable andI quite liked this book when I read it as a young un. Amy Flowers, despite having a tinge of “not like other girls”, is not mean and is a rootable and interesting main character. I also liked her outfits. It was a good take on the “new girl vs. mean girls” plot....more
In this book, Lydia is in England and Julie is back in America. It is quite risky of the author to separate the two main characters in only the secondIn this book, Lydia is in England and Julie is back in America. It is quite risky of the author to separate the two main characters in only the second book of the series, but it actually works well.
I prefer Lydia’s POV when she is in a British school. The rules are completely different for popularity. She gets called “the Violent American”, which is weirdly one of the best moments in the series.
Julie is in middle school in America, and it is nothing like my middle school experience. The main mean popular girl is named Bella Dawn, even though she would be born before Twilight was a thing. Bella Dawn is in eight grade, which made her seem very old when I read it but now I feel makes her almost as much a kid as the sixth grade Julie.
This is a fair book in the Popularity Papers series, which mixes up the formula. I prefer it to the first book despite the flaws in this one and the fact that I don’t like the series in general....more
This book series was kind of annoying and did not portray middle-grade kids well, according to me, but I did like the art style, especially how it wasThis book series was kind of annoying and did not portray middle-grade kids well, according to me, but I did like the art style, especially how it was actually two art styles, one for each of the main characters. Although Lydia was a better character, Julie was better at drawing. Sometimes I could not read Lydia’s handwriting, and that affected how I enjoyed the book.
The first book in this series is about two kids in fifth grade who want to become popular and want to take many measure possible to do so. I was reading this in the mid-2010s, when the definition of popularity was changing, and while the later books reflect this change, the first one doesn’t.
Sometimes it feels like the popular kids in this book are way nicer than the main characters. Normally that would be an interesting subversion of the mean popular girl trope, but not when the main characters are boring, self-destructive, kinda stupid, and hard to read about. They also use other unpopular kids to achieve their goals.
Their portrayal might be true to life for kids that age, but it is also disturbing, and sometimes they seem to have an odd unrealistic maturity. They also aren’t really that unpopular in the beginning of the book. In real life, Lydia and Julie would be lucky to have each other. ...more
Allie is introduced to Cheyenne, a mean girl. Cheyenne is from Canada, but her name is something a clueless American mom would name her kid. Cheyenne Allie is introduced to Cheyenne, a mean girl. Cheyenne is from Canada, but her name is something a clueless American mom would name her kid. Cheyenne seemed less of a bully to me than what should be implied in the story, but I still didn’t like her. I enjoyed this story more than other books in the Allie Finkle series, possibly because I enjoyed reading about Cheyenne and how she was a mean girl....more
**spoiler alert** Despite often being the new girl at school, I did not like this book. I felt that some of Allie’s rules would not make for a good ne**spoiler alert** Despite often being the new girl at school, I did not like this book. I felt that some of Allie’s rules would not make for a good new school experience. While they did attract a bully, I could predict everything because Allie is friends with said bully in the later books I read first. If I read this one before the later books, I would have liked it better....more
I don’t personally like Allie’s character in general: a snobby girl who has terrible rules. But I think the first book in the series is okay because iI don’t personally like Allie’s character in general: a snobby girl who has terrible rules. But I think the first book in the series is okay because it is very relatable. I was always moving around to different houses as a little kid. I was always uprooted and sometimes the houses and apartments were unsatisfactory. This book captures that feeling very well....more
I never could get this book. For one thing, I knew since the age of eight that the villains were the best part in any school play. Also, the heroine’sI never could get this book. For one thing, I knew since the age of eight that the villains were the best part in any school play. Also, the heroine’s mom is a movie critic and panned a movie named Requiem for a Somnambulist, calling it a snore fest. I have no idea what Requiem for a Dream did to Meg Cabot, but that certainly wouldn’t put her to sleep....more
A good mystery about why the kids’ superpowers are disappearing when they turn eighteen. Better written than the other superpower stories I read as a A good mystery about why the kids’ superpowers are disappearing when they turn eighteen. Better written than the other superpower stories I read as a kid, and while I don’t remember the solution to the mystery, I remember it not being what I expected. Very good book....more
This was an interesting superhero story. All of the side characters were better than the main character, especially the underutilized female characterThis was an interesting superhero story. All of the side characters were better than the main character, especially the underutilized female characters. Surprisingly cynical for a middle-grade novel....more
Olivia Kidney has to go to an art school which is full of pretentious art bullies. The dancers are on top and the weird artists are outcasts. You woulOlivia Kidney has to go to an art school which is full of pretentious art bullies. The dancers are on top and the weird artists are outcasts. You would expect the weird artists to be pretentious gatekeepers, meaning the dancers are only on top because they held onto that position by force.
Olivia gets involved in a mystery with ghosts. It is very fascinating, with a lot of recurring characters from the first books appearing again. I especially like the Princess of Babatavia and Olivia’s ghost brother. Mostly, this book just made me sad that there weren’t any other Olivia Kidney books, and that this was the last in the series....more
Olivia Kidney has another great adventure in her second book. Personally, this is my favorite of the Olivia Kidney books.
Olivia moves into another weOlivia Kidney has another great adventure in her second book. Personally, this is my favorite of the Olivia Kidney books.
Olivia moves into another weird building, this one a pretty fancy brownstone The rooms are flooded, and the next door neighbors are a posh finishing school for kids trying to act mean and rich.
That school was the most interesting element in any of the Olivia Kidney books. All the kids have to be renamed after foreign cities like Paris Hilton, dye their hair “butter-blond”, and harass the help. It didn’t radicalize me to eat the rich, just to wonder what my life would be like if I joined them.
A superb episodic piece of imagination with all the cool setting details that captivated me as a kid and wonder if New York was actually like this....more
Gloriously weird with an amazingly kooky cast of characters. It reads somewhat like a book of short stories, with Olivia Kidney going to each person’sGloriously weird with an amazingly kooky cast of characters. It reads somewhat like a book of short stories, with Olivia Kidney going to each person’s apartment and hearing about their life. Some of the events described can get kind of gruesome, but never in a way that is bad for a kid. And I did love it when I was a kid....more
This book was fun despite being a bit samey and having a lot of cliches of both the zombie and boarding school genres. But it combines them in a way tThis book was fun despite being a bit samey and having a lot of cliches of both the zombie and boarding school genres. But it combines them in a way that at least made an interesting read when I was a kid.
This girl has a virus turning her into a zombie and so she goes to a zombie school which has the same problems as regular school. I wanted her red curly hair when I was a kid, because even zombies have good hair. The rest of the book didn’t matter to me, just the main character, how she combined zombie and new girl in school tropes, and her hair....more
Mind you, Bruce Coville is still an excellent writer in this book. My problems with this book are personal and relatively minor, so it still gets a hiMind you, Bruce Coville is still an excellent writer in this book. My problems with this book are personal and relatively minor, so it still gets a high rating. The three main characters finally reunite and this was the “My Teacher is an Alien” book that made me cry the most.
The title is correct, the teacher really does flunk the planet. Earth is on trial, a complete cliche, and we are certainly guilty. All the characters travel around the planet and see noble uncharacterized primitive folks and terrible scenes of waste and cruelty. This book is distinctly misanthropic, even taking the twist into account. This book is also really preachy....more
Weirdly my favorite of the “My Teacher is an Alien” series, either because or despite it is all worldbuilding. The nerd character Peter is abducted byWeirdly my favorite of the “My Teacher is an Alien” series, either because or despite it is all worldbuilding. The nerd character Peter is abducted by aliens, and gets to see their spaceship and all sorts of wacky aliens. It takes the alien teacher dynamic to a new level by not having the alien teacher impersonate a human. This book also had an alien species with many sexes. It is really cool....more
In this excellent sequel to My Teacher is an Alien, there is another teacher, who might be a female alien. The school bully gets his intelligence enhaIn this excellent sequel to My Teacher is an Alien, there is another teacher, who might be a female alien. The school bully gets his intelligence enhanced by an alien machine and becomes a sympathetic character. I half remember reading Flowers for Algernon, but I might just have been reading this book. ...more
An alien teacher, I think, would be better than a human teacher. This book excellently sets up the premise of the series quite effectively. Two kids, An alien teacher, I think, would be better than a human teacher. This book excellently sets up the premise of the series quite effectively. Two kids, Susan and Peter, are investigating their teacher, who they discovered is an alien. This book is very simple compared to the later books in this series, but it is excellent....more
Not as good as the first book in this series, but in some ways more thrilling, with excellent locations in all the planets and moons and celestial bodNot as good as the first book in this series, but in some ways more thrilling, with excellent locations in all the planets and moons and celestial bodies the characters visit....more
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