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A review by saidtheraina
Geeks, Girls, and Secret Identities by Mike Jung
4.0
It's funny, this year in my elementary Summer Reading promotion visits, I blurbed both [b: A Whole New Ballgame (Rip and Red, #1)|22718747|A Whole New Ballgame (Rip and Red, #1)|Phil Bildner|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1415428985s/22718747.jpg|42164925] and this book, which was namedropped in AWNB.
Hip juvenile fiction (particularly "diverse" JF) is a small world.
And sometimes it feels like there are a million chapter books about superheroes, but I've never encountered this exact premise before. There's some interesting gender stuff, there's some interesting bullying stuff, and it's nice to see the geeks having their day because (at least in part) they're geeks. I'm glad the plot wasn't spoiled for me before I started this, so I won't spoil it for you.
I do wish there were some female-identified characters besides the mom and the love interest, but this feels developmentally appropriate, and talking about the grossness of Higgleman Park was a hit with classrooms all over the school district.
Also, sidenote for fellow/aspiring booktalkers, I found that the kids were actually more into it if I did not say the transgressive words. In some schools, I said the word, "poop," and in some I just said "the... stuff the geese left all over the park." The kids were really into the wink, wink, nudge, nudge of not saying the word, even though I could. There's an element of suspense in the is-she-gonna-say-it-this-time quality. #protip
Hip juvenile fiction (particularly "diverse" JF) is a small world.
And sometimes it feels like there are a million chapter books about superheroes, but I've never encountered this exact premise before. There's some interesting gender stuff, there's some interesting bullying stuff, and it's nice to see the geeks having their day because (at least in part) they're geeks. I'm glad the plot wasn't spoiled for me before I started this, so I won't spoil it for you.
I do wish there were some female-identified characters besides the mom and the love interest, but this feels developmentally appropriate, and talking about the grossness of Higgleman Park was a hit with classrooms all over the school district.
Also, sidenote for fellow/aspiring booktalkers, I found that the kids were actually more into it if I did not say the transgressive words. In some schools, I said the word, "poop," and in some I just said "the... stuff the geese left all over the park." The kids were really into the wink, wink, nudge, nudge of not saying the word, even though I could. There's an element of suspense in the is-she-gonna-say-it-this-time quality. #protip