Middle School Is Worse Than Meatloaf: A Year Told Through Stuff

by Jennifer L. Holm

Book Overview

Ginny has ten items on her big to-do list for seventh grade. None of them, however, include accidentally turning her hair pink. Or getting sent to detention for throwing frogs in class. Or losing the lead role in the ballet recital to her ex-best friend. Or the thousand other things that can go wrong between September and June. But it looks like it's shaping up to be that kind of a year Here's the story of one girl's worst school year ever -- told...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0689852819
• ISBN13: 9780689852817
• Release Date: July 2007
• Publisher: Atheneum Books for Young Readers
• Length: 128 Pages
• Weight: 0.98 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 6.8" x 8.5"
• Age Range: 8 to 12 years
• Grade Range: Grades 3 to 7

Customer Reviews

Innovative and truly touching.....

I cannot even begin to tell you how skeptical I was about the idea of a story being told through stuff. I couldn't imagine how you could tell a coherent story this way, let alone tell a moving story that actually says something meaningful. But this book really works. I actually cried in a few places (okay I'm sentimental by nature but I think this story would bring a lump to a few people's throats). It was amazing how characters' personalities were revealed by to-do lists, drug store receipts, English assignments, journal entries, comic strips, and the like. And the plot unfolds quite effectively with "stuff". For example, second on Ginny's to-do list that opens the book is to get the role of the Sugarplum Fairy in the Nutcracker, so you know how much Ginny wants the role. Later on in the book you see the casting list, and on the next page you see a journal entry lamenting her stepfather's forgetfulness, and you easily connect the dots for that plotline. There was another page with a physician's report, and it says Ginny is normal and healthy, except for a very curious allergy to milk that is treated with allergy shots as needed. This was very curious to me, as my daughter has a milk allergy and she can't have one drop or she gets anaphylaxis, plus food allergies traditionally are not treated with allergy shots. I chalked it up to a mistake on the part of the author, but I was so very wrong, there is a stunning explanation for Ginny's allergy that is revealed in an English assignment further on in the book. Anyway, this is such a hilarious and beautiful story, about the resiliency and spirit that early adolescents have, in spite of things that always seem to go wrong. I am so glad I put aside my doubts and read this amazing story. I'm looking forward to the day I can hand it to my daughter to read. I highly recommend it to anyone who is interested in the inner life of middle school girls...

Middle school's loss is a child reader's gain

I remember being 13 or so and talking with a much older cousin of mine. When he asked me what grade I was in I told him seventh and he chuckled to himself. "Man, that was the worst." Was it? At the time I couldn't quite figure out what he meant. Sure middle school was awful but sometimes it's hard to separate yourself from what you perceive as "normal". Looking back on it now, I can see clearly just how awful that age is for a whole bulk of humanity, but who has the guts to go on out and say it? That would be two-time Newbery Honor winner Jennifer Holm, of course. Yet when you're dealing with a universal experience you really need to be able to make your book unique in some fashion. Enter artist Elicia Castaldi. "Middle School is Worse Than Meatloaf" is a tale told via "stuff". Notes, detention slips, photos, CDs, invitations, shopping lists, you name it. A perfect blending of chaotic piles and orderly prose, this book gets to the heart of the best and the worst (more often the worst) of this most awkward and necessary of ages. She had such plans for the year, Ginny did. Oh, it was going to be great. She had this whole To Do List with things like "Get a dad" and "Try to be friends with Mary Catherine Kelly". Seventh grade was going to be awesome. Okay, sure Ginny's bank account seems to stay at the unaccountably small ending balance of $5.00 at all times. And sure the aforementioned Mary Catherine Kelly has decided that Ginny just isn't worth being friends with anymore. But really, things didn't start to get really bad until Ginny's older brother Henry started getting in more and more trouble. Or when she didn't get her dream role in The Nutcracker and the aforementioned Ms. Kelly did. Or when that brat Brian Bukvic kept bugging her and, and, and.... well, things are never easy in seventh grade. Fortunately, "Middle School is Worse Than Meatloaf" makes it clear that no matter how lousy things are, there's always a chance that things will eventually get better. I hereby label 2007 the Year of the Indefinable Book. Whether you're dealing with Arrival, The Invention of Hugo Cabret or even something like Good Masters! Sweet Ladies!: Voices from a Medieval Village, everywhere you look books are breaking down boundaries and crossing lines. In this atmosphere of melded text and image, "Middle School Is Worse Than Meatloaf" fits right in. And by "fits in" what I really mean is "stands out amongst everyone else". Let me say right now that artist Elicia Castaldi has done a top-notch job. If you'd told me that all these pictures were actual photographs of real notes, tickets, clippings, casts, etc. I wouldn't have blinked. I did blink a little though when I found that everything here was digitally rendered. I mean, it makes sense. These clippings and ephemera just doesn't appear that way at first glance, which is a good thing. There's nothing worse than a children's book that makes a big whopping deal about its very obvious

A unique style of illustration

Middle School Is Worse Than Meatloaf: A Year Told Through Stuff As a reading specialist for Grades 6-8, I was so pleased to read a book that my struggling readers can actually "get through"! The illustrator, Elicia Castaldi, has such a fresh take on how a book can be read. The "artifacts" make the book so appealing to kids. I am sure it will be a hit with middle schoolers and teachers alike. It is really nice to know that this high-interest book has a readability level for all adolescents. I think this is a "novel" idea! Highly recommended!

Really good book!

I'm 10 years old and I thought the book was great! I read it in only one day. What I like best about the book was that it wasn't like a regular book but was done like a scrapbook. Each page had pictures and writing, it was really fun. I would recommend this book for anyone ages 9-13 years old.

Courtesy of Teens Read Too

I have to admit that this is one of the most intriguing books I've come across so far this year. This isn't a normal novel, in that, although the book does contains actual words, the story isn't told in regular story format. Rather, as the full title suggests, it's a story that describes a year in the life of Ginny Davis, a seventh grader at Woodland Central, through stuff. Stuff, as in notes from the principal. Stuff, as in letters to and from school friends. Stuff, as in pictures of play costumes, and cancelled checks, and calendar notations, and report cards. Stuff, as in anything and everything that makes up the life of a middle-schooler. Author Jennifer L. Holm is to be commended for this awesome book, which offers a peek into middle school life, and inside the comings-and-goings of a teenage girl. From Post It notes from mom to crazy cards from Grandpa Joe, you'll find yourself smiling and reminiscing as you browse through the pages of MIDDLE SCHOOL IS WORSE THAN MEATLOAF. This would be the perfect gift for anyone about to enter middle school, or, actually, for anyone who just enjoys books that are a little different from the norm. Believe me, this story is sure to please! Reviewed by: Jennifer Wardrip, aka "The Genius"