The Brilliant Fall of Gianna Z. by Kate Messner. September 1, 2009. Walker Children's. 208 pages. ISBN: 9780802798428Gianna is a procrastinator. She knows she has to collect 25 leaves for her science project to avoid being kicked off the cross-country team, but as the deadline approaches, she finds herself becoming more and more distracted and less and less prepared to complete the assignment. To make matters worse, her grandmother has started to become very forgetful, to the point that she gets lost in familiar places and forgets the names for household objects. Gianna’s mom doesn’t want to admit that anything is wrong, which makes Gianna even more anxious and even more distracted. There’s also a mean girl at school who seems determined to sabotage any progress Gianna makes. It’s a good thing Gianna has a great friend like Zig to help her get through the tough times - he might be her only hope for things to work out!
I enjoy Kate Messner’s Marty McGuire books, and her mystery-adventure books about the Jaguar Society, and I was curious to see what her early middle grade novels are like. Though I couldn’t get into
Sugar and Ice,
The Brilliant Fall of Gianna Z. grabbed my attention from the very start. Gianna is a likeable girl whose flaws seem very real to me. It seems like I have read a lot of books about girls who are really bookish, responsible, and focused, but not as many about sports-minded athletes who struggle to finish homework assignments and whose lives are somewhat up in the air. I like that Gianna doesn’t have it all together, but that her heart is in the right place, and she never stops trying.
I also enjoyed the relationships Gianna has with the supporting characters. Gianna’s mom, grandma, and best friend, Zig, each came strongly to life, and I loved the gentle ways they supported Gianna even when she was driving them crazy with her disorganization. It was also very satisfying to see Gianna eventually forge her own path where she gets her assignment done in her way, with her own style, instead of in a traditional format that might work for more traditional thinkers.
The Brilliant Fall of Gianna Z. is a great middle grade novel about a very real girl. Readers will easily empathize with Gianna as she struggles to conquer her homework assignment, and they will fully understand her frustrations and triumphs on the road to success. I would recommend this book to girls who have enjoyed Ann M. Martin’s
Ten Rules for Living with My Sister and Tricia Rayburn’s Maggie Bean books. It’s a perfect choice for middle school girls, especially those who might not relate to more picture-perfect fictional heroines.
I borrowed The Brilliant Fall of Gianna Z. from my local public library. For more about this book, visit Goodreads and Worldcat.
The Friendship Matchmaker. by Randa Abdel-Fattah. July 17, 2012. Walker Books. 192 pages. ISBN: : 9780802728326 Lara Zany is famous at her middle school for being a Friendship Matchmaker. A loner by choice, she devotes all of her spare time to helping her classmates change their behavior in order to become suitable best friends for other kids in their grade. Though she doesn’t like to talk about the details, Lara has had experiences that make her an expert on changing oneself to fit in. When Emily arrives at the school, however, she begins to challenge Lara’s ideas, suggesting that maybe girls really can be themselves and still be cool.
This book has a fabulous set-up, and the perfect title. The title is actually what made me pick it up, and the story itself is exactly the kind of thing I would have loved to read when I was in fifth or sixth grade. Lara is a sympathetic character whose point of view reflects the worries of lots of girls her age. Her advice is questionable, but her heart is in the right place, and kids who read to the end will be likely to forgive her for leading her classmates astray in the first place.
What they will be less likely to forgive, I think, is the rushed ending itself. Lara hints throughout the story to the sordid past events that turned her into a loner by choice. The reader gets really interested in that backstory, but it is never explained. There is a brief moment where it looks like we will get answers, and Lara literally flees the scene, leaving the entire thing unresolved. On the flip side, everything else in the story is tied up way too quickly and neatly, making the reader wonder why there was ever so much turmoil in the first place. The story deserved a much more thoughtful and truthful ending, and it disappointed me to see that the brilliant concept was not carried through to its completion very successfully.
Only one thing gives me hope - there is a sequel entitled
The Friendship Matchmaker Undercover, where I hope maybe these important neglected issues from the first book will be revisited. I would still argue that the author should not have left those dangling threads for the second book, but if I got some closure in book two, I’d be happy enough to let that slide.
The Friendship Matchmaker is a good middle grade read to recommend to fans of Lauren Barnholdt, Jo Whittemore, and Tricia Rayburn. It’s realistic and engaging, with a positive message and lots of heart. Girls will see themselves in Lara, and in many of the other characters as well, and they’ll have lots to say about Lara’s rules for making friends. This would also be a great mother-daughter book club read!
I borrowed The Friendship Matchmaker from my local public library. For more about this book, visit Goodreads and Worldcat.
Madhattan Mystery. by John J. Bonk. May 22, 2012. Walker & Company. 304 pages. ISBN: 9780802723499While their father honeymoons with his new bride, Lexi and her little brother Kevin are staying with their Aunt Roz in Manhattan, where they are scheduled to attend a city summer camp. On the first day of the visit, in the Whispering Gallery at Grand Central Station, Lexi overhears two men discussing plans to steal some jewels. The next day, the jewel heist is all over the news! With some coaxing from her aunt’s neighbor, a Chinese-Jewish New York native named Kim Ling, Lexi decides to skip City Camp and instead solve the mystery. This leads to adventures on the streets of Manhattan, as well as the basement of Grand Central and everywhere in between.
This book deserves credit, first and foremost, for including a homeless teen as a supporting character. Melrose Merritt, whom Lexi, Kevin, and Kim Ling meet on their first foray into the hidden corners of Grand Central, becomes a friend to the group, and she proves to have as much in common with them as any other kid. Instead of being an object of pity or mockery, Melrose is an integral part of the story with a fully developed personality and a strong desire to become an actress. Though Lexi makes some mistakes in some of her naive assumptions about Melrose, the story itself reaches beyond stereotypes, and that is very refreshing. Kim Ling, too, has this great, big personality which makes a nice foil for Lexi’s nervous, overprotective, and worried outlook on things.
Another aspect of the story that really sticks with me is the memories Lexi has of her deceased mother. Flashbacks of Lexi’s time with her mom are infused throughout the book at critical moments, slowly sharing with the reader the story of Lexi’s mother’s death and how it has affected Lexi. Though it is a mystery, the book is also about Lexi’s healing process and how her experiences in New York help her treasure her mother’s memory without having to remain stuck in the past.
The mystery plot itself isn’t the strongest, and I was never that interested in whether the kids actually find the jewels or not. It is neat to think about the secrets of Grand Central Station, and I like that they were incorporated into the mystery, but the mystery seemed like an excuse to explore those secrets, rather than the central focus of the story. I also had some trouble believing the ending. I think it can be difficult to provide a happy ending that doesn’t feel too neatly wrapped up, so I want to be somewhat forgiving, but at the same time, Lexi’s apparent change of heart about her stepmother comes about too easily, and the ultimate resolution to the mystery itself is equally unconvincing.
Finally, just a word about the cover. It's pretty much perfect. It advertises exactly what the story is about and also manages to reveal each character's personality as well as the nature of the relationships between those characters. The cover is what drew me to the book, and I have no doubt it will draw in kids as well.
Give this book to middle graders who have enjoyed these other city-based mysteries:
Chasing Vermeer by Blue Balliett,
The London Eye Mystery by Siobhan Dowd, and
When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead.
I borrowed Madhattan M
The good-intentioned matchmaker idea reminds me a little of Emma by Jane Austen. I love the middle school friendship twist.
+JMJ+
What a great premise! There's a fine line between refining your character to be a better friend and compromising who you are only because you long to be liked, and I'm pleased that a Middle Grade book is tackling an issue that is still very relevant to me in my twenties.