(Book Cover compliments of Titlewave)
Bibliography
Grimes, Nikki. Planet middle school. New York: Bloomsbury. 2011. ISBN 9781599902845
Review
Best-selling author Nikki Grimes introduces an instantly likeable12-year old girl named Joylin in a heartfelt poetry book that explores the angst, joys, awkwardness, and self-awareness of the middle school years. Tomboy Joy, who can whip any guy on the block in basketball, finds herself as dismayed at the physical changes in her own body as she is the personality changes in her two best friends. Jake begins to treat her different on and off the court, and KayLee begins to take an interest in frills, heels, and lipgloss. Meanwhile, Joy doesn’t understand why she is suddenly noticing cute boys herself and starting to rethink her own personal appearance. As she convinces her unathletic younger brother to enjoy his gift for drawing and stop trying to impress their father with sports, she observes “See what happens / when you stop trying to be / someone you’re not, / when you stick with / who you really are? / Good things follow.” Joy gradually and painfully begins to re-embrace who she is, but not before many pages of laughable embarrassing moments dotted with lipstick, heels, training bra, a first-ever skirt, and a gorgeous (but out-of-reach) guy named Santiago. Grimes' free-verse poems laced with honest first-person insights from Joy unfold a gentle growing-up story full of humor, hope, and wisdom that will resonate with any girl who has traversed (or is traversing) the unfamiliar terrain of “Planet Middle School.”
Honors
Junior Library Guild selection
Scholastic Book Club selection
"Starred Review" School Library Journal
Also reviewed in Booklist, Horn Book, Kirkus Reviews, Library media Connection, and VOYA
Sample poem
Confession
Three days of moping
around the house,
and Mom is wondering why.
She bugs me
till I tell her about
Santiago,
the dumb things I did
to get his attention,
and the new girl
who didn’t have to do
anything at all.
Mom listens, pushes the hair
from my forehead,
and asks me:
“Why do you care so much
whether he likes you?”
It’s a hard question
and I take time to think
before I answer.
“Because—
because he makes
my heart beat fast.”
“Oh, honey,” Mom says,
“he may be the first,
but I promise you
he won’t be the last.”
Then she holds me close
long enough for me to leave
a puddle on her shoulder,
long enough for me to feel
some of the hurt drain away.
Connections
(For upper middle-high school age)
Have students think silently about a time when they tried to be someone they are not in order to win approval from others. Draw a timeline on the board and survey the class to see where most of these events occurred in their lives thus far, and discuss results. Brainstorm as a class some of the inherent challenges of the middle school years and then read Confession. Have students write a free verse poem about a time when they felt compelled to be someone they are not.
Give students the opportunity to privately reflect on the many facets of their growing personalities by reminiscing and brainstorming about who they feel they really are. Provide magazines and art supplies for students to create an artistic collage of their complex sides. Encourage students to create their own poem to accompany their work of art. If they are willing to share their work, have them only write their name on the back and then post in a public place in the classroom.
For readers who want similar books dealing with coming of age issues:
Girls:
Sandra Cisnersos. House on Mango Street.
Phyllis Reynolds Naylor. Lovingly Alice.
Joyce Lee Wong. Seeing Emily.
Diana Lopez. Confetti Girl
Guys:
Robert Cormier. Frenchtown Summer.
Mike Lupica. Heat.
W.R. Philbrick. The Young Man and the Sea.
Gennifer Choldenko. Al Capone Does My Shirts.
