Marvelous Middle Grade Monday: Ivy Aberdeen's Letter to the World

Participating in the Marvelous Middle Grade Mondays blog hop  hosted by Greg Pattrige of Always in the Middle, with loads of reviews of Middle Grade fiction (books for roughly ages 8-12). I have another good MG LGBTQ novel, age-appropriate and realistic.

I'm going to briefly address those who wonder if this is appropriate for kids this age. The obvious answer is that since by 4th or 5th grade (9 or 10) many kids are dealing with puberty, crushes, and all the rest, of course it is. And yes, kids that age need to know that there are options out there besides boy/girl, because not knowing only adds to the confusion. For the same reason, I'm hoping to find some good stories about kids coming to grips with being trans, because for many (like my daughter) puberty is when that begins to make itself known to them. I am a firm believer in knowledge. No knowing what the options are (and that they're okay) doesn't keep a kid from being gay or trans. It just leaves them confused and unhappy.

End of sermon!

 

Title: Ivy Aberdeen's Letter to the World

Author: Ashley Herring Blake 

Publication Info: Hachette Audio, 2018. 6 hours. Original harback, Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, 2018. 306 pages.

Source: Library

Publisher's Blurb:
When a tornado rips through town, twelve-year-old Ivy Aberdeen's house is destroyed and her family of five is displaced. Ivy feels invisible and ignored in the aftermath of the storm--and what's worse, her notebook filled with secret drawings of girls holding hands has gone missing.

Mysteriously, Ivy's drawings begin to reappear in her locker with notes from someone telling her to open up about her identity. Ivy thinks--and hopes--that this someone might be her classmate, another girl for whom Ivy has begun to develop a crush. Will Ivy find the strength and courage to follow her true feelings?

My Review:
Oddly, I didn't remember this (less than a week later) as an audio book--which in my opinion means that the narration was beautifully transparent. So that's all I can say about the audiobook aspects. 

The story itself is a good companion to The Language of Seabirds, which I reviewed a couple of weeks ago. Unlike that one, it's not a quiet, sweet story--at times I was pretty wrenched by what Ivy is going through--but it is a good, engaging, age-appropriate story of coming of age, coming to terms with big changs, and coming out.

There is plenty going on in Ivy's life besides her new understanding of her sexual orientation. Even before her family is turned upside down by the tornado, Ivy is feeling like an outsider, thanks to the arrival of new twin brothers, and probably to the nature of puberty. I think most kids feel pretty messed up at that age! She is also upset by a new rift between herself and her beloved older sister, and now she has this whole thing of her first crush.

I once read that it's called a "crush" because that's what happens to your feelings. Ivy has an additional problem of not being sure if she dares to come out. The author handles this in a realistic way, and manages to give us a happy ending--though not necessarily the one I was expecting.

My Recommendation:
I'm giving this one two thumbs up as both an engaging read and a sensitive treatment of one of the many potential complications of coming of age. Recommended for 9 or 10 and up, depending on where the kids are in their trip to puberty.

FTC Disclosure: I checked Ivy Aberdeen's Letter to the World out of my library, and received nothing from the writer or publisher for my honest review.  The opinions expressed are my own and those of no one else.  I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."  

 

©Rebecca M. Douglass, 2024
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