She Loves You (Yeah, Yeah, Yeah)

April 2, 2018
Bestselling author Hood (The Obituary Writer) revisits Beatlemania through her narrator Trudy Mixer, a sixth grader growing up in Rhode Island in 1966. School has been great for Trudy and her best friend, Michelle—that is until Trudy returns from spring break, when everything changes. A substitute teacher calls Trudy by her hated real name, Gertrude, and the name sticks. Michelle acts aloof and sits with future cheerleaders Becky and Kimberly during lunch, practically ignoring Trudy. To make matters worse, hardly anyone shows up to Trudy’s Beatles fan club meeting—only the least popular kids in her grade. When Trudy learns that the Beatles are playing in Boston in August, she decides the solution to all her problems is meeting Paul McCartney, and formulates a plan to bring the three remaining club members with her. Hood alludes to unfolding events of historical significance, including the Vietnam War, but keeps the focus on Trudy’s personal fascinations and concerns. Beatles song titles are used as chapter headings that thematically relate back to incidents in Trudy’s life (including “We Can Work It Out” and “From Me to You”). This charming coming-of-age story acts as a time capsule, offering contemporary readers a glimpse into life in the 1960s while exploring issues young people face in every generation. Ages 10–up. Agent: Gail Hochman, Brandt & Hochman.

May 1, 2018

Gr 4-7-Trudy Mixer has been in love with the Beatles, especially Paul McCartney, since she saw them on the Ed Sullivan Show two and a half years ago. Now, 12-year-old Trudy is president of her school's Beatles Fan Club, the most heavily attended afterschool activity. That is, until a substitute teacher calls out "Gertrude," Trudy's despised full name, during attendance. Following this, Trudy's best friend Michelle inexplicably dumps her for the Future Cheerleaders Club and the Beatles Fan Club dwindles to only three members: the least popular kids at school. Trudy is sure only one thing can save the Club's popularity and her reputation: attending the Beatles concert in Boston and meeting Paul McCartney. All of the characters, even Trudy, are woefully one-dimensional, as are their relationships with each other and the eventual revelation of their personal problems. What this adventure lacks in stakes, it makes up for in details of popular music songs, brands, and trends of the 1960s. Unfortunately, rather than a fun and realistic glimpse into the past for contemporary Beatles fans, Hood's debut middle grade reads more like a reimagining of her own childhood. VERDICT For most readers and Beatles fans, Erin Entrada Kelly's Blackbird Fly is a more rewarding choice.-Brittany Drehobl, Morton Grove Public Library, IL

Copyright 2018 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 1, 2018
"All I had was an invalid mother, three oddball friends, a father who didn't know I was alive anymore, and a sliver of hope that meeting Paul McCartney could change all that."By the time Trudy makes this statement, readers know that she tends to overdramatize her life but also that she is determined to meet Paul McCartney. She is a sixth-grader who explains that she felt exhilarated when, in 1964, she began her elementary school's Beatles Fan Club, which, by September of junior high, sported 23 members. Now, after April vacation, 1966, everything has changed: Her best friend is hanging out with cheerleaders; she is suddenly being teased about her full name, Gertrude; and her fan club has been reduced to herself, awkward Peter, uncool Jessica, and unkempt Nora. The good news: The Beatles will perform in August in Boston, just 50 miles from Trudy's Rhode Island home. The text is laden with references to 1960s history, fashion, and popular culture--although air-raid drills go unmentioned. In a nice, perspective-lending touch, elevator music and disposable diapers are predicted for the future. All characters are default white. Trudy's voice and her relationships with parents and peers ring true to an adolescent slowly making sense of her life and the people in it. Her perseverance, cleverness, and sense of humor will keep readers turning the pages to see if she does meet her favorite Beatle.Trudy's persistence after initial failure will resonate even with middle graders who've never heard of the Fab Four. (Historical fiction. 8-12)

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April 15, 2018
Grades 5-8 It's the summer of 1966: the Vietnam War is in full swing, the heat is unbearable, and Trudy (not Gertrude!) Mixer has Beatles fever. She's head of her school's Beatles fan club and is nursing a serious crush on Paul McCartney (no one cares about George), and while once this made her pretty cool, times are changing. Trudy's best friend abandoned her, and her once-popular club has shrunk to a measly three members, all of whom are a little weird. When Trudy's workaholic dad gets tickets to the Beatles show in Boston, it seems like her luck has changed, until a business trip interferes. Still, Trudy's determined to see the show, and she's left with the fan club: her three not-quite friends who, as it turns out, have ulterior motives. Hood, known primarily for her adult novels, offers up a coming-of-age story steeped in nostalgia, humor, and heart. There's obvious appeal for Beatles fans, but Trudy, irrepressible in her struggle to maintain friendships in a changing world, will win many admirers of her own.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)