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A review by teaandspite
J.R. Silver Writes Her World by Melissa Dassori
1.0
In terms of writing, this was fine. Interesting premise, decent enough main character, the prose wasn't awful.
Unfortunately, a story about friendships changing and friends growing into their own people requires that the potential cast of friends be worth keeping around. That was where Dassori failed.
JR is great as both a character and a kid. She's relatable in a way I think most any bookish kid will recognise. Her best friend, however, is not. It's clear from the beginning that Violet has no interest in truly continuing her friendship with JR. In the end, JR is the only one changing and making concessions to fit better into Violet's new life. That's not a story about growing up and making new friends, it's a story about learning to be a doormat in order to be included with the popular girls.
It doesn't help that all of the changes JR makes to her life seem to have little to do with her own interests and wants and everything to do with keeping up with the popular girls. Whatever happened to stories about kids--especially outsider kids--learning to find confidence in themselves and go against the crowd? What happened to moral fortitude and having a backbone? JR is pushed into behaving like a teenager at all of eleven years old with not a single adult suggesting that maybe it's fine to not want to be on TikTok or spend all day talking about boys.
It would be different if there were any indications that JR was curious about makeup or dating on her own. If she'd thought of a boy in her class as cute without anyone else mentioning it or considered a more grown-up Halloween costume without being pressured. Instead, every move toward adolescence is made only after she's been lightly shamed by the girls around her. It's like a parody of an after-school special. Even the one actively cruel girl in the popular girl group never gets more than a mild scolding before being happily accepted back into the group.
The end result is that the book's moral seems to be "follow the crowd without complaining or you'll be left behind". That's not a message any child needs to read.
Unfortunately, a story about friendships changing and friends growing into their own people requires that the potential cast of friends be worth keeping around. That was where Dassori failed.
JR is great as both a character and a kid. She's relatable in a way I think most any bookish kid will recognise. Her best friend, however, is not. It's clear from the beginning that Violet has no interest in truly continuing her friendship with JR. In the end, JR is the only one changing and making concessions to fit better into Violet's new life. That's not a story about growing up and making new friends, it's a story about learning to be a doormat in order to be included with the popular girls.
It doesn't help that all of the changes JR makes to her life seem to have little to do with her own interests and wants and everything to do with keeping up with the popular girls. Whatever happened to stories about kids--especially outsider kids--learning to find confidence in themselves and go against the crowd? What happened to moral fortitude and having a backbone? JR is pushed into behaving like a teenager at all of eleven years old with not a single adult suggesting that maybe it's fine to not want to be on TikTok or spend all day talking about boys.
It would be different if there were any indications that JR was curious about makeup or dating on her own. If she'd thought of a boy in her class as cute without anyone else mentioning it or considered a more grown-up Halloween costume without being pressured. Instead, every move toward adolescence is made only after she's been lightly shamed by the girls around her. It's like a parody of an after-school special. Even the one actively cruel girl in the popular girl group never gets more than a mild scolding before being happily accepted back into the group.
The end result is that the book's moral seems to be "follow the crowd without complaining or you'll be left behind". That's not a message any child needs to read.