(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.”
