A review by readingthroughtheages
How to Outrun a Crocodile When Your Shoes Are Untied by Jess Keating
5.0
This has been the year for debut authors. It seems that I've read several this year that have just stuck to me in different ways. This one was no exception.
Jess Keating gets middle school right. It's hard. It's full of kids who get pleasure from cutting down people. It's full of times of your friends being the ones to bring you up. It's full of times of your parents embarrassing you, but also times when your parents show you who you really are.
And Jess Keating shows all of that in her book with plenty of witty comments. Here are some of my favorites, I laughed out loud to all of these:
pg. 49 "I swear, if there were a place called Bright Side, my mother would be queen. Complete with a little crown of stars and glitter and happy unicorns of opportunity."
pgs. 70-71 "Next year's students getting to see my work? That would be like someone seeing inside my doodle notebook. That's practically like seeing someone in their underwear."
pg. 73 "For the first time in my life, I didn't even want to draw, which probably meant I was dying from some awful disease that I'd picked up from crummy math class. I always figured integers were contagious." {I am so with you, Ana!!}
pg. 86 "You can't stay anonymous and stand in front of a crowd of people at the same time. That's like vanilla ice cream wanting to be mint chip. And I am so sticking with Team Vanilla."
pg. 149 "I bit my lip to keep from saying anything. I was still too emotional, and there was no way I was going to get all Sweet Valley High on her." {oh, how I laughed at that one. That had to be meant for the teachers and parents - a SVH comment??? Love it!}
Jess Keating gets middle school right. It's hard. It's full of kids who get pleasure from cutting down people. It's full of times of your friends being the ones to bring you up. It's full of times of your parents embarrassing you, but also times when your parents show you who you really are.
And Jess Keating shows all of that in her book with plenty of witty comments. Here are some of my favorites, I laughed out loud to all of these:
pg. 49 "I swear, if there were a place called Bright Side, my mother would be queen. Complete with a little crown of stars and glitter and happy unicorns of opportunity."
pgs. 70-71 "Next year's students getting to see my work? That would be like someone seeing inside my doodle notebook. That's practically like seeing someone in their underwear."
pg. 73 "For the first time in my life, I didn't even want to draw, which probably meant I was dying from some awful disease that I'd picked up from crummy math class. I always figured integers were contagious." {I am so with you, Ana!!}
pg. 86 "You can't stay anonymous and stand in front of a crowd of people at the same time. That's like vanilla ice cream wanting to be mint chip. And I am so sticking with Team Vanilla."
pg. 149 "I bit my lip to keep from saying anything. I was still too emotional, and there was no way I was going to get all Sweet Valley High on her." {oh, how I laughed at that one. That had to be meant for the teachers and parents - a SVH comment??? Love it!}