A review by emandm2222
Team Bff: Race to the Finish! #2 by Stacia Deutsch
3.0
I am so pleased to have a great example of friendship in a middle grade novel and one that happens to include STEM in it in such a large way as well. I loved the way the girls were able to ban together to help each other, problem solve, and just let loose and goof off. Their inclusivity of others and helpfulness to competitors provides wonderful role models for middle schoolers.
I appreciate what the author tried to do here with the second book in the Girls Who Code installment. However, I think she went a little overboard with trying to cram too much diversity in the novel; the way it was written felt forced. It is great that all of the girls in the coding group are of all different ethnicities, it gives children the chance to be able to identify with at least one of the girls in the group to a certain extent. While this is not impossible, I do not think it is entirely realistic. And, it could have worked, but with the way it was written it felt forced. It is a well-known fact in the book community that we need more diverse books, and especially need to have them in children's books so we can raise awareness of others' perspectives to children at a young age. But, this needs to be done in a way that feels natural to the story, which in this case it does not. It was as if all of the facts about people's backgrounds were presented but never delved into. For example, the main character in this book has a sister who is on the autism spectrum. This is where I had a hard time with this book. Many of the facts are mentioned, not shown, which is an important factor of great writing. Since this is a middle grade novel, the author had quite a bit of room in the word count to play with this aspect more and give better descriptions to the characters and their actions, because without it, the writing was rushed. In the first book, there is no mention of romantic relationships except for the main character’s older brother who is a senior in high school. This was something I loved about the first book and I was able to use this as a selling point to parents. In this second installment, though, the main character is in a blossoming relationship with a boy. It is not the biggest of problems, but I wish the author had held off on including relationships into the story for a book later in the series.
Despite my issues with this book, I still enjoyed it and will continue recommending it to customers. I may have to sell it differently because of the changes in the series, but the pros still outweigh the cons of this series.
I was given an ARC of this book from the publisher in return for an honest review.
I appreciate what the author tried to do here with the second book in the Girls Who Code installment. However, I think she went a little overboard with trying to cram too much diversity in the novel; the way it was written felt forced. It is great that all of the girls in the coding group are of all different ethnicities, it gives children the chance to be able to identify with at least one of the girls in the group to a certain extent. While this is not impossible, I do not think it is entirely realistic. And, it could have worked, but with the way it was written it felt forced. It is a well-known fact in the book community that we need more diverse books, and especially need to have them in children's books so we can raise awareness of others' perspectives to children at a young age. But, this needs to be done in a way that feels natural to the story, which in this case it does not. It was as if all of the facts about people's backgrounds were presented but never delved into. For example, the main character in this book has a sister who is on the autism spectrum. This is where I had a hard time with this book. Many of the facts are mentioned, not shown, which is an important factor of great writing. Since this is a middle grade novel, the author had quite a bit of room in the word count to play with this aspect more and give better descriptions to the characters and their actions, because without it, the writing was rushed. In the first book, there is no mention of romantic relationships except for the main character’s older brother who is a senior in high school. This was something I loved about the first book and I was able to use this as a selling point to parents. In this second installment, though, the main character is in a blossoming relationship with a boy. It is not the biggest of problems, but I wish the author had held off on including relationships into the story for a book later in the series.
Despite my issues with this book, I still enjoyed it and will continue recommending it to customers. I may have to sell it differently because of the changes in the series, but the pros still outweigh the cons of this series.
I was given an ARC of this book from the publisher in return for an honest review.