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MMGM Review: Ollie in Betwee by Jess Callans

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Ollie in Between by Jess Callans

Ollie in Between
Jess Callans
Feiwel & Friends
Published April 8, 2025

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Ollie in Between

As endearing as it is humorous, this debut middle grade novel by Jess Callans is a tender, queer coming of age story about the courage it takes to find your own voice and choosing to just be.

Puberty, AKA the ultimate biological predator, is driving a wedge between soon-to-be 13-year-old Ollie Thompson and their lifelong friends.

Too much of a girl for their neighborhood hockey team, but not girly enough for their boy-crazed BFF, Ollie doesn’t know where they fit. And their usual ability to camouflage? Woefully disrupted.

When a school project asks them to write an essay on what it means to be a woman (if anyone’s got an answer, that’d be great), and one of their new friends is the target of bullying, Ollie is caught between the safety of fleeing from their own differences or confronting the risks of fighting to take their own path forward.

My Review

Okay, wow. This book. The authenticity of the voice. The raw, aching tenderness with which Callans tells this story. I’m tearing up even reflecting back on the book.

As I read the story, it felt very focused and very linear. It’s easy to follow. Ollie speaks directly to the reader sometimes, which I found endearing. Like, we’re in this together. I loved that.

Upon reflection, though, so much happens in the 244 pages of this book. Ollie grieves over their mom and unborn baby brother, whose deaths resulted from a pregnancy complication. Ollie and their sister, Lila, talk about PCOS (polycystic ovary syndrome) which runs in the family, and which Ollie may have.

They experience changes in friendships that seem common to middle school years. When their best friends sense pressure to assimilate into other friend groups to avoid being considered weird, they leave Ollie behind. The loneliness and confusion Ollie feels are so authentic. I felt like I was re-experiencing those moments myself. I couldn’t have expressed it nearly so well as Callans does.

Additionally, Ollie wrestles with questions about what it means to transition from girlhood into womanhood. While the people they interview often contribute thought-provoking or poignant answers, they never explicitly answer the unspoken question Ollie is really asking. Only through continuing to ask questions and explore what resonates authentically with Ollie do the answers begin to be apparent.

I also love the way that Ollie’s dad and sister respond to them. It’s not perfect. They make mistakes along the way, which stinks, but also felt so relatable. Oof. I know I’ve been there.

I think fans of books by Alex Gino and Nicole Melleby need to read this one. Ollie in Between also reminded me of Just Lizzie by Karen Wilfrid, another fabulous queer middle grade debut.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 8 to 12.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
References to the F-slur. (The full word does not appear on the page.) Bullying/homophobic/transphobic words do appear. Other characters condemn those words (though not always out loud).

Romance/Sexual Content
References to dating and kissing. Some discussion about puberty (breasts growing, periods beginning) and what it means to be a woman.

Spiritual Content
Ollie’s mom’s Iranian family stopped speaking to her when she married a white man in the US and had their first child baptized in a Christian church.

Violent Content
Reference to the death of a parent. Some instances of bullying (see above) and homophobic/transphobic behavior. Sometimes, this is perpetrated by people who may be well-intentioned and simply aren’t leaving room for people who don’t fit a gender binary. At other times, it’s clear that people mean to cause harm. Often, those harmful words are challenged or condemned.

Drug Content
None.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use but help support this blog. I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

Marvelous Middle-Grade Monday

I’m sharing this post as a part of a weekly round-up of middle-grade posts called Marvelous Middle-Grade Monday. Check out other blogs with posts about middle-grade books today on Marvelous Middle-Grade Mondays at Always in the Middle.

Review: How to Survive a Slasher by Justine Pucella Winans

Book Review and Content, Horror, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , , , , , ,

How to Survive a Slasher
Justine Pucella Winans
Bloomsbury
Published March 11, 2025

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About How to Survive a Slasher

You’re Not Supposed to Die Tonight meets Scream in this YA slasher that turns classic horror tropes on their heads.

Few people can say they faced the infamous Satterville Wolf Man and lived. But CJ Smith can.

She doesn’t talk about that, though.

CJ has survived the horror movie that is her life by following one rule: blend in and stay out of it. But that’s hard to do when your trauma gets turned into a bestselling book series. The Slasherville books are a true crime phenomenon, documenting the Wolf Man massacres that changed CJ’s life forever. CJ hates everything about the books and their fans, but at this point she’s just grateful there aren’t any more murders to write about.

Until one day when an unpublished Slasherville book shows up on her doorstep predicting new Wolf Man killings. CJ is sure it’s a bad prank. But then the events in the book start coming true, and when CJ breaks her one rule, the Final Girl-the person who, according to the book, was supposed to stop the Wolf Man-ends up dead. Suddenly, blending in and staying out of it is not an option, and CJ will have to use everything she knows about the rules of horror to make it out alive.

My Review

I’m generally not a huge fan of slasher books, but I enjoyed You’re Not Supposed to Die Tonight (Kalynn Bayron… is there anything she can’t write?!?!) and the description of turning tropes on their heads had me intrigued. I’ve also read a couple of middle grade horror novels by Winans, and the first one in particular (The Otherwoods) is still a favorite. So with all that in mind, I wanted to check out this book.

One thing How to Survive a Slasher does well is acknowledge the slasher story tropes right out of the gate. It adds to the fun and genre-celebrating element of the book and relieves whatever tension might gather between readers and their willingness to suspend disbelief. It also made it feel like readers and characters were in on some of the same jokes, which was fun. There’s a line in the book that’s something like, “We’re not all characters in books!” Which was funny, too.

I like CJ as a character and found it easy to root for her throughout the story. CJ identifies as genderqueer and explains what that means to her, which I thought was cool. It’s nice to see characters represented in fiction that explore different ways to identify. CJ also discusses what her identity means to her and how it feels to try to describe her identity to others.

The story moves quickly, and at less than 300 pages, it’s a pretty quick read. If you’re a fan of the slasher tropes, or just want to read something that walks the line between celebrating them and poking fun at them, I think you’ll have fun with this book.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 15 up.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Strong profanity throughout.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing.

Spiritual Content
Characters have some discussions about spirituality in a more general sense. One character is an atheist. Others talk about the parallel between life and stories and whether we have assigned roles to play or are in charge of our own fates. Some characters act in service to a higher power, while others spurn that idea.

Violent Content
Situations of peril. Brief graphic violence. Scenes show murders and accidental death.

Drug Content
In one scene, a teenager wishes for alcohol but doesn’t drink any.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use but help support this blog. I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

Review: They Bloom at Night by Trang Thanh Tran

Blogger's Favorites, Book Review and Content, Horror, Paranormal, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , , , , ,

They Bloom at Night
Trang Thanh Tran
Bloomsbury
Published March 4, 2025

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About They Bloom at Night

The author of the New York Times bestselling horror phenomenon She Is a Haunting is back with a novel about the monsters that swim beneath us . . . and live within us.

Since the hurricane, the town of Mercy, Louisiana has been overtaken by a strange red algae bloom. Noon and her mother have carved out a life in the wreckage, trawling for the mutated wildlife that lurks in the water and trading it to the corrupt harbormaster. When she’s focused on survival, Noon doesn’t have to cope with what happened to her at the Cove or the monster itching at her skin.

Mercy has never been a safe place, but it’s getting worse. People are disappearing, and the only clues as to why are whispers of underwater shadows and warnings to never answer the knocks at night. When the harbormaster demands she capture the creature that’s been drowning residents, Noon finds a reluctant ally in his daughter Covey. And as the next storm approaches, the two set off to find what’s haunting Mercy. After all, Noon is no stranger to monsters . . .

My Review

I heard so many incredible things about Tran’s debut that I’ve been eagerly anticipating reading their books. I still need to read She is a Haunting, but after reading They Bloom at Night, I seriously cannot wait. Just wow.

The balance between the elements of this book– its characters, the setting, and the tension in the horrific elements is absolutely perfect. The mostly abandoned town of Mercy feels incredibly real. It was so easy to picture where things happened and feel completely immersed in the landscape of this story. Noon is also a fabulous main character. Her relationships with others are so layered. She loves her mom but feels trapped by their life and grief over her brother and dad’s deaths. She reconnects with an estranged friend and has mixed feelings about that, too. When circumstances force her into a reluctant alliance with a girl, Noon is surprised by the relationship the two forge.

I loved the themes in this book about identity, specifically about being more than one thing that happened to you. I loved the message about having a found family or community to protect you and help you face uncomfortable truths. One line in particular says it well: “Sometimes we need people to hunt the things inside of us that need to die but that we aren’t ready to kill.”

They Bloom at Night is a tightly plotted story that doesn’t waste a single word. This would be a perfect (or terrifying) book to read during a hurricane or big storm. Fans of The Shadow Sister by Lily Meade or Don’t Let the Forest In by C. G. Drews will not want to miss this one.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Strong profanity used pretty infrequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing.

Spiritual Content
There are some supernatural/paranormal elements to the story, including characters with an ability to communicate nonverbally and change form.

Violent Content
Situations of peril. References to sexual assault (not shown on the page). Some homophobic comments. At one point, several people perform surgery on another person (with consent) and try to remove something from their body. Noon finds a dead body. She also encounters others who seem to be transforming and for whom it’s unclear if they’re alive.

Drug Content
References to drinking alcohol (not shown on the page).

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use but help support this blog. I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

Review: The Underwood Tapes by Amanda DeWitt

Book Review and Content, Contemporary, Historical, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , , , , , , , ,

The Underwood Tapes
Amanda DeWitt
Peachtree Teen
Published February 4, 2025

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About The Underwood Tapes

A captivating and profoundly moving novel with hints of supernatural intrigue, blending We Were Liars and Your Name into a can’t-miss read for fans of You’ve Reached Sam.

Thirty years ago, Grace’s mom left her hometown of Hermitage, Florida and never looked back—which is exactly why Grace thinks it’s the safest place to spend her summer now. Since her mom died in a car crash, Grace has been desperate to get away from the memories and reminders of her loss. Spending the summer transcribing cassette tapes for the Hermitage Historical Society might be boring, but boring is just what Grace needs.

Until she hears the voice of Jake Underwood—the boy who first recorded the cassette tapes back in 1992. When Grace realizes he can hear anything she records, despite thirty years of time between them, she strikes up an impossible conversation with Jake through the tapes.

But the past isn’t any simpler than the present, and a mystery has haunted Hermitage through the generations. In the 1970’s, a hurricane made landfall and resulted in the tragic death of Jake’s uncle Charley. In a town as suffocatingly small as Hermitage, it’s impossible not to notice how no one talks about that storm, or Charley, and as the mystery unfurls, Grace can’t help but realize a worse truth: No one talks about Jake either.

A beautifully written exploration of grief and what happens when untreated wounds bleed into future generations, The Underwood Tapes is the perfect read for anyone in need of a good, cathartic cry.

My Review

I really enjoyed some things about this book. It’s such a unique idea. Conceptually, it reminded me a little bit of the movie The Lake House, in which people from two separate timelines communicate through letters in a mailbox.

The characters were nicely done, too. I felt an immediate connection with Grace, a girl still reeling from the unexpected loss of her mother. She seemed so adrift, and her connection with Jake helped her find a way to anchor herself. I loved Grace’s cousin Laura and her third cousin Griffin, too, though I didn’t expect to at first.

The story has this tidal feel to it. Grace’s grandparents’ generation contains a close-knit group of friends. Her mother’s generation has one, too. And then Grace joins Laura and Griffin. I loved the way that echoed the feel of a tide coming in and out. The friendships grew close, and then something broke them apart, until Grace’s generation, in which they began fragmented, but through her experience in the small town, she created strong bonds.

The only thing I wish was different about this book is that I wish the ending had been a little longer. It felt somewhat rushed, and there wasn’t really any resolution beyond knowing more about what happened. I wish there had been something more there.

On the whole, though, I really enjoyed the emotional journey and the descriptions of a small town in south Florida. I can see fans of You’ve Reached Sam really liking this one. It has some of the same themes about complex, incomplete grief and the work of healing and moving forward.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
A few instances of the F-bomb and other profanity used infrequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
None.

Spiritual Content
A girl can communicate with a teenage boy from thirty years earlier through recorded messages on cassette tapes. One particular geographical location also seems to allow her to slip into other moments in time.

Violent Content
References to a fatal car accident caused by a drunk driver. Grace experiences symptoms of PTSD while in the car. One scene shows someone’s apparent death by drowning. In another, someone is fatally injured.

Drug Content
A man drives home drunk from a bar. Grace attends a beach party where someone gives her a drink of alcohol. She holds the cup but quietly refuses to drink it.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use but help support this blog. I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

Review: Of Jade and Dragons by Amber Chen

Book Review and Content, Fantasy, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , , , , ,

Of Jade and Dragons (Fall of the Dragons #1)
Amber Chen
Viking Books for Young Readers
Published June 18, 2024

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Of Jade and Dragons

Eighteen-year-old Aihui Ying dreams of becoming a brilliant engineer just like her beloved father – but her life is torn apart when she arrives a moment too late to stop his murder, and worse, lets the killer slip out of reach. Left with only a journal containing his greatest engineering secrets and a jade pendant snatched from the assassin, Ying vows to take revenge into her own hands.

Disguised as her brother, Ying heads to the capital city, and discovers that the answer to finding who killed her father lies behind the walls of the prestigious Engineers Guild – the home of a past her father never wanted to talk about. With the help of an unlikely ally – Aogiya Ye-yang, a taciturn (but very handsome) young prince – Ying must navigate a world fraught with rules, challenges and politics she can barely grasp, let alone understand.

But to survive, she must fight to stay one step ahead of everyone. And when faced with the choice between doing what’s right and what’s necessary, Ying will have to decide if her revenge is truly worthwhile, if it means going against everything her father stood for . . .

My Review

This book definitely has some Mulan vibes. It reminded me a bit of Spin the Dawn by Elizabeth Lim, especially in the first quarter. (Girl goes to a big city and attempts to enter an elite, male-only guild.) I liked the relationships Ying cultivates with the other guild hopefuls, especially a younger one who becomes a close ally. (I hope book two includes this character.)

When I first saw this book, for some reason, I thought it was a middle grade book. It’s not. It’s clearly intended for a young adult audience. Sometimes, the writing and the way the characters related to one another felt more in line with a middle grade story. That isn’t to say anything is wrong with the writing or character relationships. It’s possible I felt that way because I had the other age group stuck in my head already.

There is a romantic subplot in the story, too. I love that the author doesn’t follow every expectation readers might have with a romance story. Ying is a strong character and has a deep commitment to her mission. She doesn’t want anything to distract her from finding out who had her father killed. She wants entry into the engineers’ guild to finish his work.

I love that this book includes so much about engineering as a field of study. A lot of the lessons and tests shown in the story involve defensive or offensive vehicles and weaponry, but some characters mention other kinds of engineering. I would have enjoyed seeing more of a spectrum of engineering projects, but I can see why those focuses would fit better in the story because of the push toward war.

On the whole, I enjoyed this one. It looks like the start of a series, so I’m curious to see where the story goes from here.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Representation
Characters are Chinese-coded.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Strong profanity used very infrequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between boy and girl.

Spiritual Content
Characters pray to and mention Abka Han, the god of the skies and guardian of Ying’s homeland. When a good or bad thing happens, it’s taken as an omen from Abka Han.

Violent Content
Situations of peril. Characters face assassins and armed enemies in several scenes. References to and reports of warfare. In one scene, an assailant stabs an unarmed man after ransacking a room.

Drug Content
Characters drink alcohol at social events.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use but help support this blog. I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

Review: Coyote Lost and Found by Dan Gemeinhart

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Coyote Lost and Found
Dan Gemeinhart
Henry Holt & Co.
Published March 5, 2024

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Coyote Lost and Found

It’s been almost a year since Coyote and her dad left the road behind and settled down in a small Oregon town. . . time spent grieving the loss of her mom and sisters and trying to fit in at school. But just as life is becoming a new version of normal, Coyote discovers a box containing her mom’s ashes. And she thinks she might finally be ready to say goodbye.

So Coyote and her dad gear up for an epic cross-country road trip to scatter the ashes at her mom’s chosen resting place. The only problem? Coyote has no idea where that resting place is—and the secret’s hidden in a book that Coyote mistakenly sold last year, somewhere in the country. Now, it’s up to Coyote to track down the treasured book . . . without her dad ever finding out that it’s lost. It’s time to fire up their trusty bus, Yager, pick up some old friends, discover some new ones, and hit the road on another unforgettable adventure.

My Review

I have a friend who loves voicey middle grade with a southern feel to it, and this book immediately made me think of her. Coyote is an absolute wonder. She’s unconventional and a little wild, kind of a loner, and has such a huge heart. I really like Rodeo, her dad, as well. He’s got a very hippy sensibility and definitely wouldn’t be everyone’s pick for best dad, but his temperament really works with Coyote, and he works really hard to make sure she has what she needs.

This is a book about grief. It’s a book about saying goodbye to someone you’ve already lost, and how sometimes grief is a journey, and on that journey, you have to say goodbye more than once. Some of the scenes in which Coyote and her dad talk about or around their losses were so poignant. I cried more than once.

It’s also a story set during the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, so it has an underlying uncertainty and loneliness to it. It doesn’t have to do with the pandemic at all, really, but the shutdowns and fears about the virus impacted different characters and scenes in ways that made me think.

The only thing I kept waiting for and felt like was missing from the story is more information about Coyote’s sisters. She lost her mom and two sisters in a car accident long before this book (and another about Coyote and her dad) takes place. While this book focused on the loss of her mom, I felt like it was a little odd that she never named her sisters or had any memories of them or longing for them specifically. I haven’t yet read COYOTE SUNRISE, so it’s possible her relationships with them are explained more fully in the other book.

On the whole, I loved Coyote’s powerful voice and the sweet and silly rituals she shares with her dad and the lucky people they bring into their lives. I can definitely see fans of Kate DiCamillo’s contemporary novels or fans of Gillian McDunn loving this book.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 8 to 12.

Representation
Coyote’s best friend is Latine American. Another character is Asian American.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
See violent content.

Romance/Sexual Content
Coyote gets uncomfortable when she realizes her dad may have romantic feelings for a neighbor.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
A white clerk threatens an Asian American customer, holding up a baseball bat and saying racist things.

Drug Content
None.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use, but which help support this blog. I received a free copy of COYOTE LOST AND FOUND in exchange for my honest review. All opinions my own.