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Review: The Science of Being Angry by Nicole Melleby

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The Science of Being Angry by Nicole Melleby

The Science of Being Angry
Nicole Melleby
Algonquin Young Readers
Published May 10, 2022

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About The Science of Being Angry

Eleven-year-old Joey is angry. All the time. And she doesn’t understand why. She has two loving moms, a supportive older half brother, and, as a triplet, she’s never without company. Her life is good. But sometimes she loses her temper and lashes out, like the time she threw a soccer ball—hard—at a boy in gym class and bruised his collarbone. Or when jealousy made her push her (former) best friend (and crush), Layla, a little bit too roughly.

After a meltdown at Joey’s apartment building leads to her family’s eviction, Joey is desperate to figure out why she’s so mad. A new unit in science class makes her wonder if the reason is genetics. Does she lose control because of something she inherited from the donor her mothers chose?

My Review

THE SCIENCE OF BEING ANGRY is the third book by Nicole Melleby that I’ve read. Her books, so far, tend to address identity issues as well as some complex mental health challenges that kids face, and I love them for that. All three books point up how confusing it can be to have big feelings, whether anger, depression, or grief. They also show parents grappling with their own fears and worries without letting those things intrude into the story and take center stage.

Joey has a lot of big feelings and a really hard time articulating them. Even though no one specifically articulates what’s happening, I felt like, as a reader, watching her, I could start to see patterns in some of the things that set off her anger. I loved that those clues were there, even though the story isn’t specifically about discovering why she feels the way she feels. The story focuses on recognizing the ways in which her behavior is hurting others and also the journey she and her family face to deciding it’s time for professional support for Joey and her family.

In my own experiences with mental health, we often neglect to think about the part of the journey that THE SCIENCE OF BEING ANGRY brings into the light. We want quick fixes. Or we want to ignore an issue, hoping it will resolve on its own (sometimes they do, so that impulse isn’t always wrong). Someone’s parents can be trying as hard as they can to find the right path forward, and it can still be a messy and painful and confusing process. I feel like this book perfectly nails that experience.

And it also brings readers a lot of hope. Loving someone and continuing to look for solutions matters. Loving someone and continuing to build communication and trust matters. Without being preachy, the book points up a lot of those great strengths that a family can bring. It also addresses the importance of counseling and the positives that can come from that kind of help.

Over all, THE SCIENCE OF BEING ANGRY is another great book by an author I can’t get enough of. I’m so glad I had the chance to read it, and I hope it finds its way into the hands of all the readers who need the hope and encouragement it brings.

If you want to know more about Nicole Melleby’s books, check out my reviews of HURRICANE SEASON and HOW TO BECOME A PLANET.

Content Notes for The Science of Being Angry

Recommended for Ages 10 to 14.

Representation
Joey has two moms and likes girls romantically.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
Two girls kiss. Some descriptions of affection between Joey’s moms.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
Joey pushes, shoves, and sometimes hits other kids, and her Mama.

A boy shoves a girl, hits her in the face with a piece of pizza, and calls her a rude nickname.

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 THE SCIENCE OF BEING ANGRY in exchange for my honest review.

Review: How to Become a Planet by Nicole Melleby

Book Review and Content, Contemporary, Middle Grade 8-12, , , , , , , ,

How to Become a Planet
Nicole Melleby
Algonquin Young Readers
Published May 25, 2021

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About How to Become a Planet

For Pluto, summer has always started with a trip to the planetarium. It’s the launch to her favorite season, which also includes visits to the boardwalk arcade, working in her mom’s pizzeria, and her best friend Meredith’s birthday party. But this summer, none of that feels possible.

A month before the end of the school year, Pluto’s frightened mom broke down Pluto’s bedroom door. What came next were doctor’s appointments, a diagnosis of depression, and a big black hole that still sits on Pluto’s chest, making it too hard to do anything.

Pluto can’t explain to her mom why she can’t do the things she used to love. And it isn’t until Pluto’s dad threatens to make her move with him to the city—where he believes his money, in particular, could help—that Pluto becomes desperate enough to do whatever it takes to be the old Pluto again.

She develops a plan and a checklist: If she takes her medication, if she goes to the planetarium with her mom for her birthday, if she successfully finishes her summer school work with her tutor, if she goes to Meredith’s birthday party . . . if she does all the things that “normal” Pluto would do, she can stay with her mom in Jersey. But it takes a new therapist, a new tutor, and a new (and cute) friend with a checklist and plan of her own for Pluto to learn that there is no old and new Pluto. There’s just her.

My Review

I feel like Nicole Melleby does an incredible job bringing issues to the middle grade stage with poise and poignance but without softening the truth about how hard some of those challenges can be. Both of the books she’s written that I’ve reviewed (HOW TO BECOME A PLANET and HURRICANE SEASON) have explored mental health and identity issues as well as complex relationships with single parents. This book also included resolving conflicts within a friendship.

All those topics felt handled really well in the context of a middle grade story. I didn’t feel sheltered from Pluto’s anxiety or her depression. I felt like I experienced those things along with her, but in a really accessible way. Like they would still make sense (I think) to someone whether or not they’d shared that experience personally.

I liked that Pluto’s parents both wanted to help her and be present and loving with her, but that the story showed how complicated that was for Pluto, too. I liked that no one in the story is perfect. It was also really cool that the story focused on building Pluto’s support team: friends, parents, mentors, and her therapist, all working together to create a network that Pluto could lean on when she needed them.

HOW TO BECOME A PLANET may not be the book that resonates with every reader, but it’s such a sweet, deep story. It’s about learning to recognize what you need and how to be loved even when you don’t feel lovable. Readers who enjoyed BREATHING UNDERWATER or ASTER’S GOOD RIGHT THINGS will not want to miss this one.

Content Notes for How to Become a Planet

Recommended for Ages 8 to 12.

Representation
Several characters, including Pluto, identify as queer.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
A kiss between two girls.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
Pluto has a meltdown and lashes out physically.

Drug Content
Pluto takes medication for her anxiety and depression.

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 HOW TO BECOME A PLANET in exchange for my honest review.

Review: Hurricane Season by Nicole Melleby

Blogger's Favorites, Book Review and Content, Coming of Age, Contemporary, Middle Grade 8-12, , , , , , , , , , , ,

Hurricane Season
Nicole Melleby
Algonquin Young Readers
Available May 7, 2019

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

About HURRICANE SEASON

Fig, a sixth grader, wants more than anything to see the world as her father does. The once-renowned pianist, who hasn’t composed a song in years and has unpredictable good and bad days, is something of a mystery to Fig. Though she’s a science and math nerd, she tries taking an art class just to be closer to him, to experience life the way an artist does. But then Fig’s dad shows up at school, disoriented and desperately searching for Fig. Not only has the class not brought Fig closer to understanding him, it has brought social services to their door.

Diving into books about Van Gogh to understand the madness of artists, calling on her best friend for advice, and turning to a new neighbor for support, Fig continues to try everything she can think of to understand her father, to save him from himself, and to find space in her life to discover who she is even as the walls are falling down around her.

Nicole Melleby’s Hurricane Season is a stunning novel about a girl struggling to be a kid as pressing adult concerns weigh on her. It’s also about taking risks and facing danger, about love and art, and about coming of age and coming out. And more than anything else, it is a story of the healing power of love—and the limits of that power.

My Review

One of my favorite things about HURRICANE SEASON is the evolution of Fig’s relationship with her dad. At the beginning she really idolizes him and feels super defensive of him, even when he’s doing things that make her life a lot harder. She blames their problems on her teacher who called social services. Or on hurricane season for drawing her dad to the shoreline during its dangerous storms.

As Fig’s dad’s behavior deteriorates and starts to affect her relationships at school, she grows to resent him and his mental health problems. She feels guilty and frustrated at herself, and eventually frustrated with her dad when he’s not able to do things with her that she needs, like going to an art exhibit that’s important to her, or going to her art show at school.

Even as their relationship frays, Fig and her dad continue to share rituals that bond them. I loved their exchange: “I love you.” “Double it.” “Love you, love you.”

And in the midst of it all, a miracle happens. A new person joins their family, and as so often happens when a situation is out of control, it’s that person who helps everyone realize how untenable things have become. I liked this catalyst character in the story, too, though at times he seemed almost too perfect.

I loved the way HURRICANE SEASON used details about Van Gogh’s life and his work to frame what was happening with Fig’s dad and even Fig herself.

Also worthy of note: this is a medication-positive story. Fig’s dad eventually begins taking medication to regulate his mental health, and while the solution isn’t perfect– the story shows some difficulty getting dosage and prescriptions right for him– it’s clear that it makes a positive difference in all of their lives.

Readers who enjoyed THE BENEFITS OF BEING AN OCTOPUS by Ann Braden or NEST by Esther Ehrlich need to put HURRICANE SEASON on their reading lists.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 10 to 14.

Representation
All the major characters are white. Fig’s dad is from London. Fig likes girls. A man begins a romantic relationship with another man.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Mild profanity used once.

Romance/Sexual Content
Two men kiss. A girl has a crush on another girl.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
None.

Drug Content 
None.

Note: I received a free copy of HURRICANE SEASON by Nicole Melleby in exchange for my honest review. This post contains affiliate links which cost you nothing but which help support this blog.