The latest from Newbery Honor winner Jennifer L. Holm is a seventh-grader’s overly dramatic account of a new school year. A scrapbook of candy wrappers, instant messages, postcards and receipts helps to convey the story of Ginny Davis’ middle school trials. Middle School Is Worse than Meatloaf is at the same time both comical and insightful. Ginny writes haikus about meatloaf and an essay about her father’s death. Holm, who collaborates on the graphic novel series Babymouse with her brother Matthew, smoothly unites the various liberating and devastating events of an awkward time of life to accurately portray the inner and outer turmoil endured by adolescents. As Ginny’s story concludes, we find that perhaps middle school isn’t so bad after all, it ends eventually.
Valiant Women is a vital and engrossing attempt to correct the record and rightfully celebrate the achievements of female veterans of World War II.
