mommamel11's review against another edition
3.0
The premise of this book is good-cross country train trip, with stops along the way. Interesting tidbits about places along the way. The narrator, Sara, age 12, was engaging. What I didn’t like was the laundry list of political correctness: gay parents-check, adopted child from another country-check, sibling involved in social causes-check. All the social causes: BLM, environment, -check. Cool senior citizens-check. I felt hit over the head by it all.
It turns out I’ve read another book by the author that I don’t remember.
It turns out I’ve read another book by the author that I don’t remember.
thebookishlibrarian's review against another edition
Sara Johnston-Fischer’s summer plans are cancelled when she finds out that she is going on a cross country train trip with her two sisters, one of their boyfriends and her two moms. It’s not what she had in mind, but it could be fun, right? Read This Would Make a Good Story Someday to find out what Sara’s summer has in store!
snazel's review against another edition
5.0
Dana Alison Levy is so good at this. What a gentle, family-full (including both the good stuff and the stress) road trip. She's a genius.
yapha's review against another edition
4.0
All of Sara's summer plans are ruined when one of her moms wins a cross-country train trip for the entire family. Now, instead of reinventing herself with her two best friends before the start of middle school, she is stuck on a train with her younger sister Ladybug (Frog's friend from The Family Fletcher), her older sister Laurel and Laurel's boyfriend Tree, and her moms. Plus, she is supposed to be friendly with the other winning family which includes a boy her age. Not to mention that her mom wants to know her inner feelings about everything for the book she is writing. Sara finds it all unbearable, and keeps to herself, writing in her journal which becomes this book. Of course, as the journey goes on, Sara starts to learn more about herself and the people around her as well as the country she is traveling through. Because Laurel and Tree are staunch social activists (attending Berkeley, of course) there is a lot of commentary about both social and environmental issues. It may come off as didactic to adults, but it is well integrated for the intended audience. This is a really fun summer adventure book. Recommended for grades 4 & up.
kpmgeek's review against another edition
4.0
Super fun LGBT family travel story about a cross country Amtrak adventure.
just_hebah's review against another edition
4.0
Laugh-out-loud middle grade novel about trying to reinvent yourself while avoiding death by mortification by your noisy and slightly embarrassing family. The 12-year-old mortification and disdain is an authentic voice, and yet there's still plenty of heart and love in this story.
alinaborger's review against another edition
As always, Levy gives a ensemble you cannot help but love (see exception below).
The convention of a train trip was also quite original in these days of nearly instant travel--and all the more fun as a result.
*The exception to the lovable ensemble was Miranda (stepmom), whose annoying self-important voice was both accurate and damning of the mommy-blog community; it made me cringe at first and then laugh.
The convention of a train trip was also quite original in these days of nearly instant travel--and all the more fun as a result.
*The exception to the lovable ensemble was Miranda (stepmom), whose annoying self-important voice was both accurate and damning of the mommy-blog community; it made me cringe at first and then laugh.
lisafrancine's review against another edition
5.0
Dana Levy, you did succeed! Another fabulous family filled frolicking story that had me cheering, rooting, and laughing out loud over and over again. Thank you, thank you!
Part of Dana's review is below:
"Since I can't review it objectively, I'll just tell you what I wanted to write. I wanted to write a funny story. I wanted to write about the frustration of being twelve, and knowing you're being unreasonable but not being able to change how you feel. I wanted to write about sisters and social justice and seeing the world from a new perspective. I wanted to write about new friendships, and judging people before you know them. I wanted to write about a diverse family having an all-American vacation. I wanted to write a story that captures how it feels to be walking on that thin line between kid and teenager, and how that walk can be exhilarating, frustrating, and misery-inducing all in the same day.
Did I succeed? Who knows?
..."
Part of Dana's review is below:
"Since I can't review it objectively, I'll just tell you what I wanted to write. I wanted to write a funny story. I wanted to write about the frustration of being twelve, and knowing you're being unreasonable but not being able to change how you feel. I wanted to write about sisters and social justice and seeing the world from a new perspective. I wanted to write about new friendships, and judging people before you know them. I wanted to write about a diverse family having an all-American vacation. I wanted to write a story that captures how it feels to be walking on that thin line between kid and teenager, and how that walk can be exhilarating, frustrating, and misery-inducing all in the same day.
Did I succeed? Who knows?
..."
baranchi's review against another edition
3.0
I don't usually have a problem reading kids books, but it really sticks out to me that this book was not meant for me. I could not identify with Sara's struggles. It took her 150 pages to arrive somewhere I could see she needed to be within the first 5 and the intervening 145 pages just felt like a slog of whining to me. Also, there was less "my family is so wacky" antics and more "my family is having serious fights" than the description would lead you to believe. It didn't turn out to be my cup of tea.
Despite this, I think this story will be extremely important to a lot of young girls. It deals with a lot of issues that will be important to them and they can probably identify more with Sara.
Despite this, I think this story will be extremely important to a lot of young girls. It deals with a lot of issues that will be important to them and they can probably identify more with Sara.
missprint's review against another edition
5.0
Here's the thing: the more I think about this book, the more I love it.
Where "This Would Make a Good Story Someday" lacks some of the zippy, laugh-out-loud humor of Family Fletcher (the book that made me an undying Dana Alison Levy fan) - though, to be sure, it has plenty of funny moments - it makes up for it with great thoughtfulness, and matter-of-fact addressing of major issues. "Good Story" touches (and often really delves into) on issues of racism, the environment, class issues, activism, "non-traditional" family structure, and even privacy in a largely digital age (between Mimi's blog, and Trevor).
Sarah's activist sister, Laurel, pens occasional notes that fiercely address grim realities they encounter on their rail trip across the country, but Sarah also processes and considers these issues through her own, younger lens. As in Family Fletcher, Levy does not talk down to her audience, and the book is a million times better for it.
I could go on for quite a while, about how relateable Sarah is, how perfectly Levy captures the love and friction of a close family, how I'm pretty sure the Aunties stole my heart... but suffice to say, this book is magnificent and I can't wait to put it in the hands of readers.
Where "This Would Make a Good Story Someday" lacks some of the zippy, laugh-out-loud humor of Family Fletcher (the book that made me an undying Dana Alison Levy fan) - though, to be sure, it has plenty of funny moments - it makes up for it with great thoughtfulness, and matter-of-fact addressing of major issues. "Good Story" touches (and often really delves into) on issues of racism, the environment, class issues, activism, "non-traditional" family structure, and even privacy in a largely digital age (between Mimi's blog, and Trevor).
Sarah's activist sister, Laurel, pens occasional notes that fiercely address grim realities they encounter on their rail trip across the country, but Sarah also processes and considers these issues through her own, younger lens. As in Family Fletcher, Levy does not talk down to her audience, and the book is a million times better for it.
I could go on for quite a while, about how relateable Sarah is, how perfectly Levy captures the love and friction of a close family, how I'm pretty sure the Aunties stole my heart... but suffice to say, this book is magnificent and I can't wait to put it in the hands of readers.