It's Monday! What are you reading? was started by Sheila at Book Journey and was adapted for children's books from picture books through YA by Jen of Teach Mentor Texts and Kellee of Unleashing Readers. You can visit either site for a round up of blogs sharing their weekly readings and thoughts or search Twitter for #IMWAYR.
Last Week's Posts
- #DiverseKidLit Goes Global. Share a link or find the latest diverse book recommendations here.
Middle Grade
This Would Make a Good Story Someday (2017) by Dana Alison Levy. This companion novel to The Family Fletcher series (The Misadventures of the Family Fletcher and The Family Fletcher Take Rock Island) features the Johnston-Fischer family. Middle sister Sara is keeping a journal for the summer when her mother Mimi wins an opportunity for the whole family to take a month-long cross-country train trip for her newest book. Thus kicks off a classic road trip story, complete with sibling antics, enforced family time, and the paranoia that your mother is writing up the whole thing.
What I love about Dana Alison Levy's books is that she brings a classic family story vibe to a not-always-featured-in-classic-stories family. Whereas the family Fletcher features two dads and their four adopted sons (of various ethnicities), the Johnston-Fischer family features two moms, two biological daughters, and the irrepressible, adopted Ladybug Li. But rather than being stories about being a gay or lesbian family, the books are always about being a family. No clarification necessary. Readers will find a lot here to relate to with Sara's story - the angst of tween-dom, the pressures of social media on kids, and the fear of being forced to spend unending days with your family and friends! An enjoyable read.
Happy Reading!
Happy to hear about a new Fletcher family story. They are terrific!
ReplyDeleteAgreed! (Even if Frog only shows us as the addressee for postcards.)
DeleteI love these stories so much! Like you said, the stories aren't so much about adoption or same-sex parents, they're first and foremost about families, whatever they look like. :)
ReplyDeleteExactly!
DeleteI've put a hold on This Would Make a Good Story Someday at my library, since I adore Dana Alison Levy's Fletcher Family!
ReplyDeleteYay!
DeleteThis book is in my summer TBR pile! I'm glad you enjoyed it, I really had not heard anything about it yet!
ReplyDeleteI hadn't heard about this one. I'm glad there is more to the Fletcher community.
ReplyDeleteAgreed!
DeleteI haven't read Levy's books, so I will certainly check them out. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteThey are super-cute. The Fletcher books remind me of Judy Blume's Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing series.
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