A review by jbrooxd
The Campaign by Leila Sales
4.0
[I received an electronic review copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.]
4 stars=Great! Might re-read
I loved this local election-focused story for middle grade readers! I think there are great principles here to get kids talking about politics, civic engagement, elections, etc. Yes, there may be structures in the book that don't fit every community (like a mayor having a say over school curriculum), but as a starting place for conversation, I think this is great. I think this would be fascinating for a class read aloud or for book club/book group discussion. Without even trying hard, I could think of several activities that older elementary and middle school students could do to use the story as a springboard to learning about their own community election process.
There is a secondary layer to this about friendship and fitting in that was also good. And don't even get me started on Maddie's parents. Ugh. But the campaign pieces shine in this.
4 stars=Great! Might re-read
I loved this local election-focused story for middle grade readers! I think there are great principles here to get kids talking about politics, civic engagement, elections, etc. Yes, there may be structures in the book that don't fit every community (like a mayor having a say over school curriculum), but as a starting place for conversation, I think this is great. I think this would be fascinating for a class read aloud or for book club/book group discussion. Without even trying hard, I could think of several activities that older elementary and middle school students could do to use the story as a springboard to learning about their own community election process.
There is a secondary layer to this about friendship and fitting in that was also good. And don't even get me started on Maddie's parents. Ugh. But the campaign pieces shine in this.