One Old, One New: Middle Grades Edition

One Old, One New features two books - one old, one new, which are connected in some way. Today, I am sharing two middle grades books. They explore different issues, but both are wonderful additions to a middle grades reading list. 

How to Become a Planet
Nicole Melleby
Age/Genre: Middle Grades, Contemporary
Publisher: Algonquin Young Readers
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Goodreads

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.

The end of seventh grade was not a great success for Pluto, but she had a plan to return to her "normal" self. If she could just check the items off her list, she would be fixed.  But could Pluto return to the way she was before?

Though this story was set during the summer down the shore, it was not a light and easy beach read. This was a realistic story of a young person's struggle with accepting and adjusting to a recent mental health diagnosis. After slowly being pulled in by the "black hole", Pluto was found to have depression and anxiety. Not only was the label difficult for Pluto to accept, it was difficult for all those who loved her. 

As someone who has dealt with both anxiety and depression for my entire life, I found Melleby's depiction to ring true for me. The anhedonia, the lethargy, the thought patterns, as well as the need to be "fixed" were things I found very relatable. Pluto's slow acceptance of her illness and her path towards learning to manage her mental health issues came across as very realistic as well. 

She was dealing with depression, anxiety, arguing parents, a distant best friend, and a pile of make up work. That's a lot! But Pluto did have a support system in her tutor, her therapist, her mother, and a new friend, Fallon. 

Fallon was one of the brightest spots in this story. When Pluto was with Fallon, she could take a breath, because Fallon didn't know the Pluto from "before". Their friendship was based on who she was now with no other expectations. A very sweet friendship grew between them, as they tried to help each other with their respective lists. While Pluto's list was about getting back to the Pluto-from-before, Fallon's was about exploring their gender identity. 

Super honest and emotional. Melleby did a wonderful job depicting the struggled with depression and anxiety, and how you don't "fix" it. It was a journey for Pluto, her family, and her friends, and though she was just at the beginning of it, I was left with hope for them all.

**ARC received in exchange for an honest review

Forget Me Not
Ellie Terry
Age/Genre: Middle Grades, Contemporary
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
Goodreads

A girl with Tourette syndrome starts at a new school and tries to hide her quirks in this debut middle-grade novel in verse.

Astronomy-loving Calliope June has Tourette syndrome, so she sometimes makes faces or noises that she doesn't mean to make. When she and her mother move yet again, she tries to hide her TS. But it isn't long before the kids at her new school realize she's different. Only Calli's neighbor, who is also the popular student body president, sees her as she truly is—an interesting person and a good friend. But is he brave enough to take their friendship public?

As Calli navigates school, she must also face her mother's new relationship and the fact that she might be moving, again, just as she starts to make friends and finally accept her differences.

Every time Calli's mom broke up with her boyfriend, they had to move. It was hard starting over, but even harder for Calli, who was different. She had Tourette Syndrome and was told to hide it. She finally found a friend in her neighbor Jinsong, but would he still want to be her friend, if he knew the truth about her?

This book was really lovely and touched my heart. Terry, who had TS, did such a wonderful job pulling me into Calli's head and helping me understand her emotions and the challenges she faced. It broke my heart, that she was told to hide her TS. This seems to be a standard attitude when it comes to neurodiversity, and it made me sad. With so many people telling her to bury this part of herself, Calli grew ashamed. Part of this story was her journey to self-acceptance. It as difficult given that she had so little support, but when she got there, I was so proud of her. 

This story was also about friendship. A very sweet relationship develops between Calli and Jinsong. However, when others begin to notice Calli's tics, she become a target, and Jinsong doesn't want to become one himself. He remembered what it was liked being teased for being Asian, and so he was very sympathetic to Calli's situation. He struggled with wanting to do the right thin. Standing up for Calli would be going against the crowd, especially those he thought were his friends. I really liked that Terry included Jinsong's perspective, because I believe many people find themselves in this type of situation and could relate. 

I really loved this story. It spreads some awareness about Tourette Syndrome, which is typically portrayed poorly in media, while also being about being a friend, being different, doing the right thing, and being true to yourself. These messages were conveyed beautifully, and I was left with a full and happy heart.  

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