LS 5603 Middle School is Worse than Meatloaf

Holm, Jennifer L. Middle School is Worse than Meatloaf. New York: Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2007.

ISBN: 978-0-689-85281-7

In this slim volume told through the paraphernalia of a year in the life of a middle-schooler, Ginny Davis tells all. Her delinquent older brother is sent to a boarding school and her little brother is just annoying. She tells us her mother is getting remarried and she wants the role of the Sugar Plum Fairy in this year’s production of the Nutcracker. She gets good grades in everything but Art. She wants the yellow sweater she has seen in a store’s window at the mall. But most of all she wants this year to be the best year ever!

Middle School is Worse than Meatloaf is a good book for the middle grades or those reading above their grade level in elementary school. The illustrations/graphics in the book are eye-catching and the story is gives one a voyeuristic look into Ginny’s life. The page layouts are visually interesting and provide a sense of what being in her family is like and sense of pride he reader can share with Ginny as she “shows” us her good grades and report cards. The tale, interspersed with some of Ginny’s free-verse poetry, give a good insight into the mind of a typical (if there is such a thing!) twelve-going-on-thirteen-year-old.

The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books' October 2007 issue states, “Holm manages to craft a genuine plot and character arc from the bits and pieces.” Kids who liked this book may enjoy Sixth-Grade Glommers, Norks, and Me by Lisa Papademetriou or this book of humorous essays, Middle School: How to Deal (subtitled: Written By Five Real Girls).