Reviews

Vanessa is a middle school, struggle with a common but serious middle school problem. Friendship, Friendship begins to change at that age and Vanessa cannot understand why her former best friend now wants nothing to do with her. Vanessa explorers her past to discover why Bailey as disappeared from her life, Through this process she creates artifacts in her own museum of their former friendship, and Vanessa discovers a lot about herself and Bailey, and friendship.

musica_mondel's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging inspiring reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

hughjass's review against another edition

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4.0

more heartwarming than expected

aylea's review against another edition

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5.0

Sometimes I read a book as an adult that heals childhood me in some way. This is one of those books. From the title, I thought this book was going to be a magical realism adventure. It wasn't, but the book was still magical in its own way.

Vanessa and Bailey have been friends for years, but for some reason, Bailey hasn't been much of a friend lately. In fact, it seems like Bailey doesn't want anything to do with Vanessa anymore. Vanessa finds an abandoned museum, and it becomes her own project. At first, she just cleans up the debris, but soon she's started adding small exhibits about her friendship with Bailey. Before long, it becomes apparent that she isn't the only one that is visiting the museum, though, and she's not the only person who wants to create their own exhibits.

The Museum of Lost and Found is a realistic portrayal of some of the pain of growing up and shifting friendships. Vanessa learns how to make new friends and connections, recognize her own faults, and consider how someone else's perspective of an event can be completely different than her own. In the book, characters are complicated and evolve in the same ways they do in real life. Vanessa certaintly feels like a preteen going through the changes, drama, hopes, and fears that are typical at this age.

Overall, I loved the experience of reading this book, and I was delighted with the conclusion and how many characters learn to understand other people better and realize that sometimes there isn't a good guy or a bad guy. Sometimes people are just people, and if we can figure out how to connect with them, we'll be able to find out something we thought we lost but was there all along.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advance copy to review.

sokeefeluv's review against another edition

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hopeful inspiring sad fast-paced

Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

0.5

Content Warnings

pandafan7's review against another edition

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4.0

Vanessa and Bailey have been best friends since they were little, but lately, Bailey seems detached. Vanessa isn’t really sure why Bailey suddenly doesn’t want to hang out with her. One day, Vanessa is out for a walk and discovers an abandoned museum. She decides to curate an exhibit about her friendship with Bailey. Vanessa learns throughout the book that friendships in life come and go. Sometimes things fall apart, for better things to come together.

Leila Sales writes a story that will resonate with a lot of middle-grade readers, especially those just starting middle school. The theme of friendship was well done. The characters were well-developed. I think readers will very much relate to Vanessa. I highly recommend this book to anyone just starting middle school. I give it 4/5 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley and Abrams Kids for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

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