The Real Us

June 12, 2017
Calista Getz starts eighth grade as “the prettiest girl in the room,” and she worries that all anyone sees or knows of her is how she looks. Laura, her former best friend, is teased because of her weight, and Damian, a lonely artist who sweats excessively, is on the social sidelines as well. When Calista gets a pimple, rash, and swollen nose in a single day, her looks suffer, leaving her to consider who she might be without them, and how things that don’t fit with how others see her (such as her love of soccer and reading) might be more important than she thinks. Alternating among the perspectives of all three adolescents, Greenwald (the Charlie Joe Jackson series) digs into the social dynamics of middle school as the story builds to the first school dance of the year. All three characters lay bare their insecurities and shared sense of being trapped in the school’s hierarchy, resulting in a message-heavy but moving story about identity, public pressures, and self-acceptance. Art not seen by PW. Ages 9–12. Author’s agent: Brianne Johnson, Writers House.

May 15, 2017
Can middle schoolers see beyond their looks?When "the prettiest girl in the room," Calista Getz, sprouts her first zit, it's the beginning of a week of learning for the three eighth-grade narrators: queen-bee Calista, her still-loyal former best friend, Laura Corbett, and awkward Damian White. On Monday, Calista's new friends Ella and Ellie tell her that she shouldn't play soccer--at which she also excels. On Tuesday, Calista's fumbling efforts to cover up the blemish lead to a rash from her mother's concealer and a scar from the popped pimple. Worse, Damian, trying to hide his sweaty shirt (he has hyperhidrosis and sweats more than most people), accidentally gives her a bloody nose. On Wednesday, she learns that Ella and Ellie have connived to get handsome Patrick Toole to ask Ellie to the First Week Dance, though Calista was hoping he would ask her. Thursday brings an opportunity to pose with Patrick for a dance poster Damian is painting, and Friday, at the dance, the poster is revealed. Chronicled in short first-person chapters, this has the drama that characterizes eighth-graders' lives but not enough insight into the real selves of any of these apparently white characters. It may leave readers wondering why they should care. Coovert supplies character-keyed chapter-head illustrations that help readers track narratorial changes. A usually humorous author offers a lesson insufficiently disguised. (Fiction. 10-14)

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May 1, 2017

Gr 5-8-In this quirky novel of self-actualiztion, Calista, a popular girl, is faced with the tragedy of all tragedies: a zit. As she slowly falls from grace, her old best friend, a chubby, sarcastic jock named Laura, tries to lift her spirits back up, all while Damian, a sweaty artist, nurses a crush on Calista. Greenwald attempts to demonstrate that it's what is on the inside that matters, and the prologue sets readers up for a realistic depiction of the harmful nature of emphasizing looks above everything else. However, the narrative, told from the alternating points of view of the three characters, loses its way and fails to develop any of their stories in a satisfactory way. The ending feels unearned and forced, leaving the impression that once the book is closed, everything will just go back to normal for the characters. There is also a brief love triangle that doesn't see a resolution. The same premise is executed in Emily Howse's Zitface with a much smoother result. VERDICT An additional purchase for large collections serving readers who love realistic school fiction.-Kathryn Kania, Goodwin Memorial Library, Hadley, MA

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