A review by carabee
Maybe He Just Likes You by Barbara Dee

5.0

I desperately wish I had been given this book in middle school. It was hard for me to read at times because I could remember feeling this way, fighting these incidents of harassment, and not having a word for it. Lucky for me, I had a mom who did have the words and who made the school speak them too. Being a kid in your heart and a young woman on the outside is a lonely and sometimes scary space to live in, especially when you’re ahead of your peers and not many have faced sexual harassment yet. This is an incredible book, and I hope it gets all the publicity and promotion it deserves. My only quibble is that Max’s experience is framed as a bit less serious than it is, as his experience doesn’t really qualify as just “regular” bullying either. But that aside, MAYBE HE JUST LIKES YOU is an excellent novel that should to be read by parents, school staff, and all middle graders regardless of gender.