MMGM: So B. It

Today's Marvelous Middle Grade Monday pick:

So B. It, by Sarah Weeks

So B. It

Written by Sarah Weeks
Cover by Anna Palma
HarperCollins, 2004
Ages 8-12, Lexile 860L
245 pp, 42000 words


Themes:
Belonging, Search for a past, Coming-of-Age


Opening:
If truth was a crayon and it was up to me to put a wrapper around it and name its color, I know just what I would call it— dinosaur skin. I used to think, without really thinking about it, that I knew what color that was. But that was a long time ago, before I knew what I know now about both dinosaur skin and the truth.
       The fact is, you can't tell squat about the color of an animal just from looking at its bones, so nobody knows for sure what color dinosaurs really were. For years I looked at pictures of them, trusting that whoever was in charge of coloring them in was doing it based on scientific fact, but the truth is they were only guessing. I realized that one afternoon, sitting in the front seat of Sheriff Roy Franklin's squad car, the fall before I turned thirteen.

Thoughts:

Heidi lives with her mom, So B. It and almost with her next-door neighbor, Bernadette. Their quirky, tight-knit family is just right, until the questions about her mom's past pile up too high for Heidi to sit still any longer. She embarks on a journey to find answers, "to know" like other kids do. 

The powerful storytelling and spot-on voice leap off every page. These characters will live in your heart and linger in your mind long after the last page is turned. The author weaves clever dialogue, interesting plot twists and just a tiny bit of magical luck into the story in the perfect blend. She creates a coming-of-age journey which gets to life's basic questions of what's important, what is family, who am I with wit, charm, and gut-wrenching drama.

Grab a box of tissues and a rainy afternoon. When you're finished, find a friend and read it together. It's truly a book to be shared and pondered.

Bonus: 
1. I could recommend Sarah's books again and again. Here are links to my pages for Save Me A Seat and Pie. And for slightly younger readers, try the Oggie Cooder series.

2. The movie version premiered in select theaters October 6. I haven't seen it yet, but you can find more info on So B. It The Movie. It'll never be as good as the book, but the original is so amazing, I'm eager to see them try. Besides, I hope it will prompt new readers to pull a copy off the library shelves.

3.  Have you reviewed a book with a similar vibe? Leave your MG recommendations in the comments. Thanks!

Check out all the recommended titles for Marvelous Middle Grade Monday for October 9, 2017 available on Shannon Messenger's Ramblings of a Wannabe Scribe.