• Maybe He Just Likes You
    book review,  Books

    Must-Read MG Book: Maybe He Just Likes You by Barbara Dee

    My daughter came home from school one day, slamming her backpack on the kitchen table in frustration. “They go ON AND ON about bullying at school, but they never tell people how to deal with it. They need to move past the “don’t bully” crap, because kids do it anyway, and teach us how to deal with it. And THEN they need to start talking about how to deal with sexual harassment, too.” Just what you want to hear on a sunny Thursday afternoon. So it was serendipitous that earlier in the day, an email landed in my inbox with a request for me to review Maybe He Just Likes…

  • middle school
    book review,  Books

    Middle School Book Picks from my Middle Schooler

    Two weeks before school let out, my 11-year-old suffered a concussion which left her unable to do much of anything – like watching TV, running outside, or the worst possible punishment when you could inflict upon her – reading. This proves especially painful (pun intended) when your order of Scholastic books arrives the day after you bonk your head. Thankfully, the  concussion cleared up in time for vacation and Maddie spent nearly the entire 3200 mile drive reading.  As such, SHE has a pile of middle school books she would love to recommend. They run the gamut from fantasy to supernatural fiction (dealing with grief) to historical fiction, and she was…