Kate BeasleyReseñas

A fun story about Frederick Frederickson who is trying to find his place in his friendship group. He feels like a loser and those around him certainly don’t make him feel any better! In an odd series of events he ends up at a camp for troubled boys mistaken for a boy with a less than stellar reputation. He is finally finding his way and making friends when his cover is blown and a hurricane blows in. His hopes of returning home are drowning with the rising waters! A fun adventure with laugh out loud humor and great messages about true friendship.

Fredrick accidentally ends up at a camp for "troubled" boys instead of on the holiday cruise with his family that he expected & now he needs to decide who he is going to be - literally. This book explores the somewhat fraught world of 5th grade boys - friendship, camaraderie, bullying, questioning etc. Although I enjoyed some of the twists & turns of the story the characters did not really come to life for me.

Ah...Gertie! She reminds me a little of Ramona and a little of Junie B. but with a little more sass. This is a fun, entertaining book! I recommend this book to anyone who wants an endearing read!

Thank you NetGalley.

Same plot as Raymie Nightingale / DiCamillo, Kate.; but for lower elementary grade.

I can't remember why I placed this book on my library book list. I usually would not pick up a Young Adult book to read, so I must have heard of the book on NPR or a public radio podcast (yes, I'm an elitist radio listener) in some manner that provoked my interest. By whatever means the book became known to me, I am glad it came my way.

Gertie is described from other reviewers as the new Ramona Quimby. I suppose that description fits. Gertie is a determined to be herself, no matter how uncomfortable that goal makes her. And, she has a lot to be determined about. She has a mom who left her to pursue a different life just down the road— a life with another man and being a mom to his children while disavowing Gertie's existence, a dad who loves his work on an oil rig in a reality of staunch environmentalists (who hire million-dollar lobbyists who jet around the country and live in multi-million dollar homes contributing to the environmental degradation they are paid to halt), and an aunt who feeds her Twinkies for breakfast in the age where pushing unhealthy diets is somewhat akin to child abuse. Gertie, being herself through it all, wears a tight ponytail at the top of her head to make certain her brain power is working a full steam as she sets off to successfully complete her missions. "Give 'em hell, baby."

The book is not perfect. In the most notable of flaws, there is one child of color who is relegated to the "smart best friend" role while the girl who "has it all" is white and blond. These characters have been overdone in fiction reinforcing stereotypes that, in turn, reinforce discriminatory mental models (conscious and unconscious). Ms. Beasley would do well to broaden her offerings of characters in future volumes. In spite of the stereotypes making me uncomfortable, I found myself enjoying this book dealing with some very adult realities. The book does what a good young adult book should do: it makes the reader think. None of the situations presented have easy answers or even desirable answers. It is a book that, if read with an adult, can provoke some interesting conversations.

The audio book's narrator made the character sound a lot younger than her 5th grade.

GERTIE’S LEAP TO GREATNESS by Kate Beasley tells the heartwarming story of a fifth grader on a quest to have the best school year ever.

From summer speech writing to performing in the school play, Gertie Reece Foy is determined to be the best fifth grader ever. However, Gertie finds competition from the new girl in school.

Librarians will find that fans of Beverly Clearly and other small town storytellers will find this humorous family and school story appealing. Charming illustrations woven throughout the text add to the appeal.

To learn more about the book and author, go to http://www.gertiesleaptogreatness.com/.

Published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux, an imprint of Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group on October 4, 2016. ARC courtesy of the publisher.

Gertie determines to impress her absent mother by becoming the best fifth grader ever, but her efforts are not appreciated by the rest of her class. Ramona Quimby meets Harriet the Spy. I found this well-written and enjoyable, though not as good as Raymie Nightingale, which is similar in theme.

What Ramona Quimby was for younger readers, Gertie Reece Foy does for a new generation of third through fifth graders. Gertie is always busy on missions with her two best friends, Junior and Jean.

Fifth grade turns out to be a pivotal year for Gertie, who longs to be the greatest fifth grader in the world. And then disaster strikes in the form of Mary Sue, who is better at everything, and whose father is a movie producer. Gertie maneuvers hilariously throughout the year trying to one-up Mary Sue and keep the respect of her classmates.

What I loved:
Gertie is imaginative, creative, and totally independent in trying to solve her problems. Some great reading results. Kids can learn to ask for help from adults as they see Gertie trying to handle things on her own, yet not having the maturity needed to clearly understand the problem. Kids can also see the maturity Gertie finally develops as she bumbles along, searching for what she doesn't have.

What I wasn't thrilled about:
The characters routinely used God's name as a common saying, not in reverence. Aunt Rae, in being her rough self, had a favorite encouraging phrase I would change if reading aloud to a class.

All in all, Gertie's Leap to Greatness,by Kate Beasley, is a great book and destined to become a Newberry!! I gratefully received an ARC copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Fifth-grader Gertie Reece Foy is determined to make the leap to greatness, thereby winning the attention and admiration of her absent mother in this engaging middle-grade novel from first-time author Kate Beasley. Although raised by her father and her Great-Aunt Rae, Gertie is used to having her mother, the elegant Rachel Collins, who still lives in the same Alabama town that Gertie does, appear as a distant figure in her life. But when a 'For Sale' sign appears outside Rachel's house, Gertie, who has never so much as exchanged a word with this mysterious mother, determines that she will make herself known, and cause the woman who abandoned her to regret leaving her behind. But things rarely go exactly as planned, and Gertie quickly discovers that newcomer Mary Sue Spivey, a transplanted Californian, and the daughter of a filmmaker to boot, is also determined to be the best fifth-grader ever. In the process of fulfilling her "mission," Gertie begins to concentrate so much on what she doesn't have that she starts to forget what she does, alienating friends and family in the process. Will Gertie succeed, or will she discover that there are all kinds of greatness...?

An engaging read, one which boasts an immensely appealing young heroine, Gertie's Leap to Greatness is an admirable debut from Kate Beasley, sister to Cassie Beasley, whose Circus Mirandus is another recent children's book of note. I appreciate the fact that Gertie is, despite her undeniably good qualities - she has a lot of heart, is often quite courageous, and perseveres in the face of numerous setbacks - also a realistically flawed young girl, one who sometimes makes serious mistakes. Some of those mistakes cause heartache, whether it be her temporary estrangement from her best friend Jean, after she displays a lack of awareness of her friend's desires, or the careless words of anger that wound Audrey, the young girl in her aunt's care; but others, such as the chocolate-stealing incident, are quite humorous. The latter had me chuckling quite a bit! I also appreciated the fact that Beasley constructs her bullying sub-plot in such a way - led by Mary Sue, whose mother is an environmental lobbyist, the children target Gertie specially because her father works on an oil rig - that the bullies represent a popular cause with which many young readers would identify. It's really helpful I think, in terms of provoking real thought around issues of political and ethical differences of opinion, and how we react to such differences, to understand that people on "our" side of an issue can also act with intolerance and cruelty. Kudos to Beasley for not taking the more stereotypical route of having her bullies espouse views that are unpopular in the children's literature/children's publishing world, thereby making them doubly 'villains.'

All in all, Gertie's Leap to Greatness is an appealing, well-written story, one I would not hesitate to recommend to middle-grade readers. It's not a masterpiece, as some reviewers seem to think - although her heroine comes alive, I think Beasley could use some work on her secondary characters, who sometimes feel like silhouettes of real people - but it is a very good beginning. I found it remarkably similar to Kate DiCamillo's recent Raymie Nightingale - both stories feature a young Southern girl who is determined to win the attention of an absent parent by being the best at something - which surely augers well for Beasley's continued success and improvement.

Gertie is being raised by her father and great-aunt since her mother decided to leave the family. Now Gertie's mother is planning to remarry and move away. Gertie embarks on a mission to become the greatest fifth-grader ever in order to show her mother what she has given up. Meanwhile, Gertie is being tormented by a snobby new girl who joins her class at school. This story goes deeper than many school stories by addressing the jumbled emotions of Gertie as she deals with the possibility that her mother might move away without ever caring to know her. I loved the interactions with Gertie's friends, especially the way that Jean also expressed the need to be the best at something. The resolution which comes at the end felt affirming without being unrealistic. My only gripes with the book were the repeated use of "Give 'em hell!" by the aunt and Gertie's use of "My, Lord." Certainly these are mild expressions. However, they also seemed unnecessary and may sit uneasy with some readers. I loved the illustrations by Jillian Tamaki, especially the cover art. The cover brought Robert McClosky to mind, so i was a bit surprised to find the book set in the present day, Altogether an enjoyable read.

This was promoted at BEA as a similar to Beverly Cleary and is a debut novel. I'm going to say upfront that it was well done, but it's not all that.

Gertie has a mission. In fact, she always has missions, but this is a special one. She is going to be the greatest fifth grader ever, starting with making the best after-summer speech, then she is going to visit her estranged mother and make her realize how foolish she's been in throwing away her chance to be in the life of someone so awesome as Gertie. She's not quite sure what will happen after that, but she'll deal with that when it happens. Of course, things go wrong right away when new girl Mary Sue shows up and is instantly the focus of attention, being that she's from Hollywood and everything. Things go from bad to worse as Gertie manages to alienate her smart friend Jean, anxious follower Junior Junior, and even little Audrey, the girl her great Aunt Rae babysits, who is like her little sister. Then the whole school turns against Gertie when Mary Sue's mother, who is a an environmental lobbyist, says horrible things about Gertie's dad, who works on an offshore oil rig. Will Gertie ever prove she's awesome or will she end up the most vilified fifth grader in history?

The writing is smooth and enjoyable, Gertie's trials and travails are dramatic and humorous, and readers will sympathize as everything seems to go wrong when she has such good intentions. There is a lot of positive buzz on this title from blurbs by well-known, award-winning authors to positive reviews from Booklist and School Library Journal. Jillian Tamaki's illustrations give it a classic, Ramona feel. However, I didn't care for it much and unless it wins a major award won't be purchasing it. Why not?

The historical setting of the book confused me. Various details seem to set this story in the late 1950s or early 1960s. However, some are contradictory (and that may well be that I simply don't know this time period well - feel free to let me know in the comments!). Audrey is obsessed with the Waltons, Gertrude was still a "normal" name during this time period. However, Gertie's teacher, Ms. Simms, is African-American as is her best friend Jean and Alabama's schools were not desegregated until the early 1960s. I find it hard to believe that nobody commented or had any issues with Ms Simms (or hired her in the first place) in a small town in Alabama. Gertie is shown wearing shorts and I'm pretty sure girls simply didn't wear shorts in the 1960s in small towns in the south (or anywhere, as far as I know). Offshore drilling seems to have also started being used more around this time but environmental concerns seem to be a later development. Gertie's friend Junior Junior shows up with a mohawk hairstyle, which wasn't widely seen until the 1970s. The whole book felt like it was trying to be modern, and yet was also historical which was odd.

However, my main reason is just that most kids won't be interested in this book. Yet another white protagonist with friends of color (personally I was much more interested in how Jean, a smart African-American girl, fared in a small coastal Alabama town in the 1960s), a brash, spunky Southern girl with mother issues (I'm from the south, sort of, and I assure you that all our mothers are not dead or absent, though you wouldn't know it from middle grade literature) and a story set during the 1960s, which is a time period my readers can hardly picture, let alone drum up interest in. Teachers and librarians who date from this time period may fall on this with cries of joy, but there are plenty of similar books out there and, no matter how well-written this one is, it's just not unique.

Verdict: If you have lots of fans of Clementine, Kate DiCamillo, or Susan Patron this will be a popular choice for your library. Otherwise I'd call this an additional purchase.

ISBN: 9780374302610; Published October 2016 by Farrar Straus Giroux; ARC provided by publisher at BEA

Gertie is a girl who knows what she wants and will stop at nothing to get it. She’s never failed at a mission. After Gertie saw the ‘For Sale’ sign at her mother’s house, Gertie wasn’t worried. She had a plan. Gertie decided to become the best fifth grader in the universe.

Whenever I think of Gertie, I cannot help but get a giant grin on my face. I want to be 100% not-from-concentrate awesome like her! Every middle-grade child who reads this book will fall in love with Gertie’s spunk. This spunk gets Gertie into a lot of trouble, but also allows her to stand up to the new girl in class, Mary Sue Spivey. I wish I had half the gumption Gertie has. I keep having flashbacks of various scenes in the book that made me crack up.

Kate Beasley is phenomenal at the craft of writing. She uses words to create vivid scenes, rollercoaster events, and dynamic characters. I will never forget reading the scene when Gertie’s classmates are at Mary Sue Spivey’s house. I will never forget Gertie. I hope to read many more books from Kate Beasley. She is 100% not-from-concentrate awesome!

Gertie is the definition of spunky, even when she is completely clueless. This is a sweet, sort of everyday story that will be great for young kids.½

Gertie wants to become the greatest fifth grader in the universe. And she's got a plan to obtain greatness. She's got the support of two wonderful friends to get her there. Until that seat-stealing new girl, Mary Lou, comes to town....

Sometimes, in children's books, you see main characters who have had all their rough edges smoothed out by their authors in order to increase their like-ability. None of the main characters in this book have had their rough edges smoothed out but all of them (yes, even that seat-stealing Mary Lou) are wonderfully likable.

An adorable Southern pecan pie of a book. Absolutely delicious. I gobbled it up.