Middle school students have reading interests that run the gamut from Diary of a Wimpy Kid to Twilight. Sometimes as a parent it is hard to know what is age appropriate for your child. Through this blog, I will try to help parents make informed decisions about what is available in our library. I am hoping that this blog will be a resource for our parents, and that we can all work together to make our students life-long readers!



Monday, April 13, 2020

Dear Sweet Pea

Dear Sweet Pea
by Julie Murphy
From the publisher:
"The first middle grade novel from Julie Murphy, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Dumplin’ (now a popular Netflix film), is a funny, heartwarming story perfect for fans of Rebecca Stead, Ali Benjamin, and Holly Goldberg Sloan.
Patricia “Sweet Pea” DiMarco wasn’t sure what to expect when her parents announced they were getting a divorce. She never could have imagined that they would have the “brilliant” idea of living in nearly identical houses on the same street. In the one house between them lives their eccentric neighbor Miss Flora Mae, the famed local advice columnist behind “Miss Flora Mae I?”
Dividing her time between two homes is not easy. And it doesn’t help that at school, Sweet Pea is now sitting right next to her ex–best friend, Kiera, a daily reminder of the friendship that once was. Things might be unbearable if Sweet Pea didn’t have Oscar—her new best friend—and her fifteen-pound cat, Cheese.
Then one day Flora leaves for a trip and asks Sweet Pea to forward her the letters for the column. And Sweet Pea happens to recognize the handwriting on one of the envelopes.
What she decides to do with that letter sets off a chain of events that will forever change the lives of Sweet Pea DiMarco, her family, and many of the readers of “Miss Flora Mae I?”
This is a very sweet and heart-warming book and I enjoyed it. The characters are so well drawn and vary from eclectic to mainstream and from popular to bullied, but are always relatable. I loved the voice of Sweet Pea, who had some really big things to deal with and sometimes made stupid decisions, but who had many nuggets of wisdom to share with the reader.

"My mom always says that sometimes the best thing you can do to show a bully that they're in the wrong is to live your very best life."

"Sometimes it's easy to forget that quiet moments mean just as much as the loud ones, because it's not always about moving. Sometimes it's about sitting perfectly and quietly still."

I really appreciated the fact that although Sweet Pea's parents got divorced, they tried very hard to do what they thought was right for Sweet Pea. Not everything they did turned out right, but they worked hard and amicably to make the change as easy as possible for their daughter.

I also appreciated matter-of-fact way the author dealt with several issues. Sweet Pea's weight, her father being gay, the diversity of the characters... those things were just a part of the whole story and not the main focus or thrown in your face as politically correct.

Oh, the friend drama of middle school! There are many of my students who will relate to this story and who might actually learn something from it.

Areas of concern:
*Bullying (for a variety of reasons)
*Divorce
*Dishonesty with friends
*A couple of minor swear words
Suggested Ages:
Booklist - Grades 4-8
Publisher's Weekly - Ages 8-12

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