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A review by josephinebean
Being Bindy by Alyssa Brugman
3.0
rated: 3 stars
this is a piece of middle-grade fiction that ive had on my shelf since i was in middle school, having taken it out of the free books box in the library. its so distinctly early 2000s australian in its voice, but is so heavy handed with the life lessons that the novel wants the reader to take out of it. bindy stays true to herself the entire book, never wavering in the face of ostracisation, bullying and peer pressure. she says no to drugs when offered. she doesn't let a boy kiss her when she doesn't want it. it deeply gives the energy of a book that would be studied in an english class for no other reason than at the end of this book everything works out, so the middle schoolers reading it should take away the message that if they do the same and stay true to themselves there is no problem they can't overcome.
and thats the reason i think that middle school me liked this book so much. bindy, the constant victim placed in the middle of every fight, triumphing at the end and being validated in her choices. as someone now who is more critical, the ending was super rushed and really had no visible consequences for the active bullying that bindy went through and then seemingly got over quite quickly. but thats what middle-grade fiction is all about, wrapping up stories perfectly to give happy endings. and it was sure nice to go down memory lane a bit with this read as well.
this is a piece of middle-grade fiction that ive had on my shelf since i was in middle school, having taken it out of the free books box in the library. its so distinctly early 2000s australian in its voice, but is so heavy handed with the life lessons that the novel wants the reader to take out of it. bindy stays true to herself the entire book, never wavering in the face of ostracisation, bullying and peer pressure. she says no to drugs when offered. she doesn't let a boy kiss her when she doesn't want it. it deeply gives the energy of a book that would be studied in an english class for no other reason than at the end of this book everything works out, so the middle schoolers reading it should take away the message that if they do the same and stay true to themselves there is no problem they can't overcome.
and thats the reason i think that middle school me liked this book so much. bindy, the constant victim placed in the middle of every fight, triumphing at the end and being validated in her choices. as someone now who is more critical, the ending was super rushed and really had no visible consequences for the active bullying that bindy went through and then seemingly got over quite quickly. but thats what middle-grade fiction is all about, wrapping up stories perfectly to give happy endings. and it was sure nice to go down memory lane a bit with this read as well.