Reviews

Attack of the Black Rectangles, by A.S. King

marisatn's review

adventurous emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

This was great. Read it out loud to my 9 year old and we were both inspired!

melbev's review

4.0

Mac is a middle schooler facing more than his share of problems: a crush on one of his best friends, his dad the alien anthropologist who can't love, and the black rectangles that have appeared in his school book. Frustrated by

King beautifully creates a thoughtful portrait of the strength and intelligence that children are capable of with the space to grow and think for themselves.

The book touches on a variety of perspectives and personalities. The author does an excellent job of giving dimension to secondary characters, and Mac is an exceptionally intuitive individual with a kindness and wisdom that most adults lack.

At the risk of sounding like Ms. Sett, I thought this book was pretty intense for a middle school audience. None of the content is too mature, but the book touches on quite a number of topics including censorship, whitewashing, bullying, unreliable perspective, family division, mental health, perspectival erasure/dismissal, protesting, sexism, Constitutional rights, responsible citizenship, shame, and more. It is well-written and thoughtful, but it was a lot even for me, an adult.

I walked away with the message that there is always more to the story. Our outlook should carry nuance and compassion, but that doesn't mean it can't lend itself to a good fight for truth.

chloewrens's review

hopeful informative reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

eruanna317's review

challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

macmower's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

abi_carter's review

challenging emotional reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes

3.0

andreacaro's review

4.0

a very cool story, considering that it's real, but i do have one question -

are you trying to tell me that a sixth grader legitimately believed that his dad was an alien? like, that's the one thing that didn't compute for me here. maybe if the protagonist was younger?

orangerful's review

emotional hopeful inspiring medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

thealien_em's review

challenging hopeful reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.0

indydhania's review

challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0