Short -- Blog Tour Review of Middle School Chapter Book

Disclosure: Penguin Random House Books gave me a copy of this book free of charge for this review. All opinions in my review are my own and I did not receive any other compensation.  As in all my reviews I am providing links for your ease, but receive no compensation.

Today I get to review a fun book for middle schoolers (grades 5-8). It tells the tale of a young lady finding her self one summer with the help of friends she meets due to being cast as a Munchkin in the local theater's production of The Wizard of Oz. 

The book is Short by Holly Goldberg Sloan. This book pulls you into the life of Julia Marks. School is over for the summer. Her two best friends are away for the summer. Her beloved dog, Ramon, has just died. And her mother insists she and her younger brother try out for the regional theater production of The Wizard of Oz. And she cannot sing or dance, yet because of her height she is picked and life goes from there. 

 With the help of her artistic new elderly neighbor and a fellow Munchkin who is an adult with dwarfism, Julia comes into her own and finds her own special talents. The story is told in first person in Julia's voice. It reminds me of my own growing up experiences and thoughts. She shares her insecurities that all girls have in middle school. She is curious and trying to figure life out. It is all I remember about middle school in one book. Then on top of it she is smaller than most people her age and is dealing with that. It is the perfect book for any middle schooler and especially perfect for one interested in drama. It is one I plan to save for Hazel for a couple of years. 

I truly think any young lady will enjoy this story and relate many parts to her own life. The book will provide her with a bit of her own self confidence since it shows all the issues that so many girls go through and that they are solvable or do not matter in the end. I hope you will check this book out.