Gillian McDunnReseñas

Elliott is on the spectrum and has ADHD. He’s most comfortable and happy in the kitchen cooking elaborate-for-a-middle-grader meals, but lately even cooking can’t calm the disturbances in his brain caused by his father remarrying and the new wife being pregnant. His grades have fallen in a drastic way, and there was an “incident” that he now must go to weekly therapy to work through. The one thing he’s looking forward to is summer cooking camp. But when his father decides that Elliott should be made to pay for the damages he caused with this “incident,” Elliott realizes he’ll have to use the money he worked hard all year to save for camp to do so. Just when things couldn’t get any worse, they do: his friends cut him out of a group project at school and he's left the only one in the class without any partners, sad and embarrassed. But it turns out that the Most Popular Girl in School also doesn’t have a partner after she leaves her own friend group in a huff. And then the two of them come up with a plan that just may possibly earn them an A, and enough money for Elliott to pay back his father *and* go to cooking camp.

I get what this one is trying to do, but I don’t think it works. Elliott is just…not a likable character. And I get that the author is trying to give him a growth arc (from so hyper-focused on something that he’s unaware that he’s being offensive to other people’s feelings, to having a wider appreciation for the fact that those other opinions can also be valid), but the beginning of that arc is painted with too strong a brush stroke and with way too much paint, so that it’s difficult to redeem the character in a believable way. There’s also too much of Elliott’s inner dialogue that tries to be clever/funny and instead feels forced, which makes it easy to pull back the curtain to see the adult author behind there pretending to be a kid. It just didn’t work for me. To be fair, I think that that must be the most difficult part of writing for children: getting those young voices right and authentic. And I honestly think it’s rarely done really well.½

Honestly Elliot is written from the perspective of a kid with ADHD; it also explores family life in two homes that have different values and styles. There are lots of obstacles for this unlikely hero to overcome - his best friend has moved away, he is having a hard time to adjusting to the middle-school work load, he is trying navigate the middle social scene. He's a kid who loves to cook, but his father disapproves.
This is a big-hearted story about a kid trying to find the best way to be his best self.

Recommended Ages: Gr. 4-7

Plot Summary: Bex and her brother are inseparable. Bex speaks for Davey because he's suddenly become mute. They go everywhere together, and they especially love taking the little rowboat out to the Thumb, where they climb the oak tree and enjoy the peace and quiet of nature. But then one day Bex discovered a hand sticking out of the water. It turns out it's a statue that's been underwater for a while. Bex convinces Davey that this should be their mystery to solve. Every day she explores and investigates, trying to figure it out. They want to figure it out quickly, because while out at the thumb, they meet some developers who are working on a plan to build a bridge right through the area to finally connect the mainland to the island. When a parent gives a clue that there is probably a nod to the artist, Bex works harder to solve the mystery while Davey peers at her worriedly from the tree. With an idea of a possible clue, they write to the local art museum to find out if the symbol they found may lead to an artist. Will they ever figure out who created this statue and why it is buried underwater?

Setting: possibly one of the Carolinas?

Characters:
Bex - incoming 7th grader, aspiring writer with major writer's block
Davey - 9 yo, Bex's little brother, loves to read, makes Bex think, super smart, only eats the yellow M&M's and carries them in a jar in his red backpack
Mom - a researcher who came to the area for research but fell in love and hasn't left, became a science teacher but loves doing research during the summer
Dad - born and raised on the island, works on the ferry boat, loves spending time with his kids who will frequently visit him on the boat
Millie Ochoa-Chen - Bex's former friend but now Bex avoids her
Mrs. Ochoa - Millie's grandma, runs a shop on the island, next door neighbor

Recurring Themes: siblings, island life, mystery, development, friendship, independence, boating, drought, death

Controversial Issues: none

Personal Thoughts: This book is about the relationship between siblings. Bex practically idolizes her brother and the surprise ending will help the reader understand why. It is well written but a little slow up until the big reveal. This book is based on some true things from the author's life. Bex is given a lot of independence which seems plausible for a small town.

Genre: realistic fiction

Pacing: slow
Characters: well-developed
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A simple, yet heart warming story of a young girl growing up over the summer. Cat isn't really fond of her role of being guardian to Chicken her autistic younger brother. Since the death of her father she had to be the glue that keeps everything together especially with her mom always working. Cat barely has time to be a kid and sometimes that frustration shows between her interaction with Chicken. Over the course of the book we do get valuable insights of her mother's relationship to her parents and the prioritization of work over family can have detrimental long term effects. While these things are important, I do wish more time was spent with the children on the island and Cat biracial identity in regards to discrimination and hair. These two things in particular was presented in a rushed, one-dimensional way and I'm afraid younger readers might not fully get the point it is trying to established. I would have rated the book much higher, but I wasn't that interested in the Grandparents story-line.

Recommended Ages: Gr.

Plot Summary: Elliott has a hard time keeping his school work and life together, except when he’s in the kitchen. For a school project, he’s forced to work with at least one other person and his kinda friends that he eats lunch with but doesn’t hang out with have shut him down. On a whim, he’s asks a girl from the popular crowd if they can work together. She says yes, through a bright red face and tears because her friends aren’t nice to her about her celiac. As Elliott and Maribel work together, they make mistakes, Elliott learns about his ADHD diagnosis, and tries to work hard on his project.

Setting:

Characters:
Elliott - 6th grader
Mark - Elliott’s dad, married to Kate who is pregnant
Maribel Martinez - Elliott’s partner

Recurring Themes: friendship, ADHD, cooking, confidence, celiac, divorce,

Controversial Issues: none

Personal Thoughts: captivating, honest, authentic and positive. Love the positive representation of divorce.

Genre: realistic fiction

Pacing: medium - lots of character development but not in a slow way
Characters: very well developed
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Schneider Family Book Award (Honor)

Sixth-grader Elliott lives with his mom most of the time, but visits his dad and Kate on the weekends. Since Elliott's best friend Malcolm moved away (for a year of home-schooling in a camper van), and transitioning into a new school, he's had a lot of trouble, partly due to his ADHD. He sees a therapist and has come up with some useful routines, but the only place he feels completely comfortable is in the kitchen. He has free rein at his mom's house, but his dad and Kate don't like him to cook at their house. How can Elliott show his dad how much cooking means to him? An opportunity arises when Elliott is paired with Maribel Martinez for the Avery Local competition, and they decide to make and sell pies. (Maribel, who has celiac disease, wants to be a businessperson, though her parents and the rest of their family are all doctors.) Elliott and Maribel's partnership encounters some bumps, but they make it through, and Elliott's relationship with his dad improves too (turns out Dad is seeing a therapist as well). A realistic depiction of a divorced but functional family and a tween both struggling with and embracing ADHD.

See also: Focused by Alyson Gerber, New From Here by Kelly Yang, Better With Butter by Victoria Piontek, From the Desk of Zoe Washington by Janae Marks, Roll With It by Jamie Sumner

Recipes: Desperation Pie (258), Elliott's Crumble Crust (259)

Quotes

Too many things have changed this year, or are about to change. Every single thing in my life has gotten worse since Malcolm left, if really want to know the truth. (9)

Never underestimate the power of one person believing in you. (re: Ms. Choi, 68)

Here's one thing I wonder about a lot: Do most people think about what they're going to say before the words come out? And if so, how much - is the entire sentence formed inside their head? Or is it like it is for me, when the slightest spark of an idea can mean a whole bunch of words tumbling out like they have a mind of their own? (76)

When I was little someone read me that picture book about the mouse who wants a cookie but there's about a hundred things the mouse gets reminded of so he starts doing those things instead. It basically takes him the entire book to finally get the cookie. This is basically what my life is like, except usually there's no snack at the end. (85)

"Sometimes, people can be mean. Especially to people who are different." (Maribel, 121)

"Accidents happen to everyone."
Maybe it's the kind of thing that could happen to anyone, but mostly it feels like the kind of thing that's always happening to me. (Kate, 130)

"Sometimes things are worth doing even if they aren't easy. Especially if they aren't easy." (Mom, 175)

"Having more people in your life who love you is a good thing. Like Kate. And the baby." (Mom, 219)

"Just remember...Every family has good and bad. Theirs does - and yours does too. You can't compare your insides to someone else's outsides." (Mom, 220)

When Sea Becomes Sky by Gillian McDunn is a beautiful book. It is narrated by Bez, an eleven-year-old girl. Bez and her family live on Pelican Island in the Carolina salt marshes. This summer is different than most because it has not rained for nearly a year. The drought doesn’t spoil summer for Bez and her nine-year-old brother Davey. They spend all their days at the Thumb, where the island curves toward the mainland. Their special place is quiet and serene; there are no other people there. There is a large oak tree where they each have a special branch to laze on, Davey reading and Bez trying to get over her writer’s block. The marsh is full of life: terrapins, fiddler crabs, mussels, and a playful pair of otters, which they have named Fritz and Opal, after cartoon characters. “Life was softer there, the edges gently blurred.”

Bez and Davey discover an underwater statue as the drought lowers the water level day by day. This begins an adventure of attempting to find out who made the statue and why it is under the water of the marsh. They are more determined in this hunt when development threatens both the statue and their special place. The book is about so much more than this, however. It is about the love between these siblings and dealing with life’s vagaries, and ultimately about dealing with hurt and loss. Ms. McDunn’s prose is simple and moves along smoothly. She is a master at showing the reader the surroundings and the inner lives of her characters. I felt the beauty and tranquility of Pelican island. Bez and Davey became genuine and I cared about them. This is a wonderful book.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Bloomsbury Children’s Books for the ARC of this book.

Quite readable but I honestly found Elliott to be a bland, uninteresting character. We are told repeatedly that he has ADHD but he doesn't narrate like he does. (Maybe this would have been better if it were written in 3rd person?) I did enjoy his burgeoning friendship with Maribel (frankly she's a more interesting character than him) and with his stepmom but overall everything was pretty predictable and boilerplate-y.

Thank you to Bloomsbury who were kind enough to send me an advance copy of this book.

Elliott has ADHD and sometimes this means he can't focus, forgets things, is disorganized and runs late. But when it comes to cooking, he is on it, inspired by the temperamental celebrity chef Griffin Connor. For a big class project, Elliott ends up paired with Maribel Martinez who is everything Elliott is not: she's popular, smart, organized and ambitious. After a few snags in their teamwork, they successfully collaborate on a cooking project that reveals both of them in their best lights. Also paralleling the project is Elliott's adjustment to his father and stepmother expecting the arrival of his baby brother, and trying to get his father to see Elliott for who he really is. Elliott's voice is likable and lively, with a bit of humorous self-deprecation. The eventual success of his and Maribel's Avery Local project is a satisfying outcome to a partnership that started on shaky ground.

When sixth grade Elliott finds out they have to do a group project for a month he heads right over to his lunchtime friends... where he is rejected because they think since he has ADHD he will bring down their grade. He ends up working with incredibly smart Maribel and pushes doing a cooking project, because that's something he's really good at. He has a lot to learn about working together though with the challenge that they decide to bake and sell pies and she has to stay away from all gluten in her food or she will get sick. To add more stress to things, his father and step-mother are having a baby soon. Will it replace him in spending time with Dad? This is an excellent book for kids struggling with conditions and the extra stress it puts on their lives. This would make an excellent discussion book for grades 4-5.

Meg and Beatrix have been best friends since kindergarten, but they're in seventh grade now and something has shifted. Meg is afraid to tell Beatrix that she's taking a science elective instead of dance, and Beatrix takes an immediate dislike to new girl Hazel, who is also in the science elective. Meg is caught between her old best friend and a potential new one, trying to figure out the right thing to do, even when it means facing her fears - of Beatrix freezing her out, and of Hazel's bees, which Beatrix's real estate mom is trying to get kicked out of the neighborhood.

Quotes

Being best friends with Beatrix is like having a bubble around me that keeps me safe.
Of course, Beatrix comes with her own set of rules. (71)

"Many people handle their fears by avoiding what scares them. But as a scientist, you have a responsibility to do the opposite. Get close to the thing that frightens you. Look it in the eye, ask the questions, find the answers. After a while, you may find your fear has been replaced by curiosity." (Ms. Dupart, 102)

"We can't always help what we love." (Dad, 114)

"Data mean nothing without a story that people can understand and relate to." (204)

My brain knows we aren't friends anymore, but sometimes my heart forgets. (265)

A middle school level novel about a boy with ADHD who struggles with fitting in with his family and at school. At home, his parents are divorced and his strict father has remarried. Mom is much more tolerant and easy going. At school, Elliott has few friends as his bestie moved away. The teacher assigns the class a group project and he eventually partners with a girl with her own issues.(She can only eat gluten free food). A pretty entertaining and topical book.

Sweet book about being the reliable one in a family -- the kid who takes care of everything when one parent is worked and the other has passed and your younger brother is slightly neurodivergent. Love how Cat's estranged grandparents manage to slip into her life slowly and take the weight off without forcing confrontations or moving too fast. It's also a good book about a magical escape of a place and friendships and sharks and fishing.

Recommended Ages: Gr.

Plot Summary: Cat doesn't want her mom to know that her brother Chicken has been running away recently. Her mom is too busy working her three jobs to pay off the medical bills from when her father passed 4 years ago. Eager to have some quality time with her mom and her best friend who moved away, Cat is excited to spend the first three weeks of summer in Atlanta. Her mom is teaching an art class. Cat and Rishi's family will help care for Chicken. Except, that doesn't go as planned. As soon as they land in Atlanta, they learn Rishi and family are flying to India because Rishi's grandmother had a stroke. Cat is seriously disappointed. She's also surprised when her mom announces the new plan: drop off Cat and Chicken at their grandparents they've never met for three weeks and leave them there while Mom teaches the class in a different state. How will they get through these three weeks with the risk of Chicken running to the ocean, and staying with Macon who doesn't seem very excited to see them?

Setting: San Francisco to Gingerbread Island, NC (made up?)

Characters:
Cat - AKA Caterpillar, 11 yo
Chicken - AKA Henry, 7 yo, loves sharks
Mom - white, artist
Dad - black, died 4 years ago, loved to cook
Rishi Krishnamurthys - Cat's best friend, moved to Atlanta, still video chat
Manjula and Sandeep Krishnamurthys - Rishi's parents, helped watch Chicken after school before they moved to Atlanta
Lily - Cat's grandma
Macon - Cat's grandpa
Harriet - Cat's friend on the island
John Harvey - bully on the island

Recurring Themes: siblings, responsibilities, special needs, grandparents, disappointment, family feud, ocean town, friendship, sacrifices, fishing, race, mixed race, good and bad

Controversial Issues: none

Personal Thoughts: Extremely well written. Love that the place is almost a character, and Cat calls attention to that. I also like the discussion of John Harvey being good or bad. Very curious to know what kids think of this one.

Genre: realistic fiction

Pacing: medium, character driven
Characters: very well developed
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A very heartfelt story through the eyes of a girl who takes responsibility for her little brother and how she gains her independence. through a series of event Cat and Chicken help their mother and grandparents work through issues that have kept them apart for way to long. By talking about loved ones who have passed Cat and her family is able to heal hard feelings of misunderstanding from the past.

Meg has been friends with Beatrix (Bea) since kindergarten. She has some anxiety issues and in their small town there's limited opportunities to meet other people anyways, so it's always been easier to just go along with Bea. But they started middle school last year and Bea is... not so nice. She's always been a bit bossy, but she's taken to giving Meg the silent treatment and freezing her out of their friend group whenever she doesn't agree or go along with Bea's ideas as enthusiastically as Bea wants.
Now the two are growing even farther apart. Bea is absorbed in dance and in her desire to move to modern and contemporary styles, rather than the classical ballet her mom prefers. Meg wants to pursue her love of science and has been accepted into a special 7th grade science class. But it will mean not taking dance with Bea. Then a new girl moves to town. She's weird and quirky, has bee hives (Meg is terrified of bees) and is an immediate target for Bea and her overbearing, bullying mother. Meg is sort of interested in being friends with Hazel, but Bea makes it clear that if she "chooses" Hazel over her, Meg's social life is over.

Things get even more complicated when Bea's mother starts a campaign to get Hazel's bees banned and Meg finds herself doing a science project about bees with Hazel. Meg's parents don't seem to understand what's happening - and Meg's mother in particular has her own issues with Bea's overbearing mother. There are many stumbles as Meg struggles to make her own choices and be her own person apart from her friends, but eventually she finds herself in a happier and more mentally healthy place in her life and ready to move forward.

I have mixed feelings about this sophomore effort from McDunn. It's true that McDunn is just a really good writer. This is spot-on about the angst and feelings and roiling worries about friendship in middle school. It's also very realistic about the handful of overbearing people who can take over in a small town and run things to suit their own narrow-minded ideas. There were many spots where I wanted to stop and say something was stereotypical, like the "quirky" new girl coming in with free and easy ways who wakes up the locals. But McDunn is such a good writer and she always tips things away from the stereotype to add a different aspect. Part of the plot of Meg's emotional growth involves her standing up not just to Bea but also to Hazel, who starts out as bossy as Bea, but in different ways. I'd say the bee aspects of the plot were an unnecessary complication and the town council meeting was very unrealistic, but small towns can - and do - devolve into endless complications over minor details like this and people are incredibly ignorant about bees. I had a whole outdoor program screaming about being stung by "bees" when they were hornets the whole time. I even caught one in a clear plastic bin to show them the difference and they STILL say "remember that time we were at the park and got stung by bees" *headdesk*.

Verdict: I think, ultimately, I would say that McDunn's skillful writing keeps this from devolving into stereotypes, but that there are so many similar books this just doesn't stand out as much as her debut novel. I'd recommend for middle school and upper elementary if you have a lot of kids who like this type of friendship-focused, more serious story, but otherwise I'd look more towards diversifying my collection with different offerings.

ISBN: 9781681197517; Published March 2020 by Bloomsbury; ARC provided by publisher; Currently testing on a sixth grader

This book is about Meg a young girl who is timid and quiet. She is seen as her best friend Beatrix's shadow. Beatrix is the friend the girl who makes all of the decisions but middle school has them starting to change. Meg is in a special Science elective and is required to be paired with the new girl Hazel. Beatrix does not like this new found friendship and tries to reclaim Meg as her sidekick. Meg is starting to find her own voice while being friends with Hazel and battles whether or not continuing her friendship with Beatrix is really worth it. This is a great book for students who are struggling with middle-school friendship dynamics.½

When the family's summer arrangements go awry, Cat and Chicken's mother sends them to North Carolina to stay with her parents whom the kids have never met. Clearly there is some kind of estrangement between daughter and parents. Cat struggles to connect with her grandfather and tries to figure out what happened between him and Mom.

Touching MG summer read about family and finding time for oneself.

I'm generally suspicious of realistic fiction in middle grade, especially anything that's heavily blurbed as "heartwarming" or "lyrical" especially when it includes dead parents. I've found that only a few kids pick these up on their own; if a teacher reads it in class it will go (witness the sudden run I had on Kelly Yang's Front Desk when a teacher read it in class) but just on the shelf, no.

However, this was blurbed by Melissa Fox, who is a reader and bookseller I trust, and once I started the book I found it both mesmerizing and beautifully written.

Caterpillar and her younger brother Chicken (their nicknames come from her mother's series of children's books) have always been together. Cat is responsible for Chicken, who is on the spectrum, and sometimes she feels responsible for everything as they try to keep their family running after her father's death. She's anticipating a few weeks of relaxation when they go down south to spend time with her best friend, Indian-American Rishi. Then, at the last minute, the Krishnamurthys have to go to India to take care of their sick grandmother. Cat's mother makes a difficult decision and sends Cat and Chicken to stay with her parents in North Carolina, on an island, for three weeks while she teaches a class.

Cat starts to feel overwhelmed almost immediately. Why doesn't her mother get along with her parents? If she dislikes them so much, why is she willing to leave Chicken and Cat with them? She feels responsible for her brother, whose sensory difficulties and growing propensity for running away both feed her protective instincts but also make her long for independence. Her gruff grandfather is hard to understand - does he like her or not? She also comes up against culture clashes, moving from their home in San Francisco to rural North Caroline and prejudice against her brother and herself, who are biracial.

There are no perfect and happy endings, but a slow growing of understanding and sense of family. Cat gains the sense of self she longs for, finds more independence, and stands her ground, requiring the adults in her family to stop depending on her so much. Although all the misunderstandings aren't fixed, Cat's mom talks to her parents and they forge new bonds. Cat makes it clear that, while she loves her brother and will always take care of him, and that her grandparents do need to recognize his different needs and listen to her experience, she also wants more independence and a life of her own.

Dunn's debut is a worthy effort indeed. She blends her own experience growing up in California with a special needs sibling, living in North Carolina, and the feelings of being a preteen girl, yearning for more independence and yet still a child to create a pitch-perfect book. Her careful inclusion of what if feels like to experience prejudice and Cat's identity as biracial feel authentic to me - she references the different reactions of people, both well-meaning and otherwise, and things like Cat's different needs for her hair.

Verdict: Recommended as a serious but hopeful summer read for middle grade lovers of realistic fiction. Dunn's characters ring true and readers will have both mirrors and windows in this excellent debut.

ISBN: 9781681197432; Published April 2019 by Bloomsbury; Galley provided by publisher; Purchased for the library