Bookverdict.com

Gr 6–9—Ah, seventh grade! A year when your friends transform inexplicably, your own body and emotions perplex you, and the world seems fraught with questions, and the most confusing ones of all concern the nature of love. Stead focuses on Bridge Barsamian, her best girlfriends, and her newest friend Sherm—a boy who is definitely not her boyfriend (probably). They're navigating the shoals of adolescence on Manhattan's Upper West Side. Emily has suddenly developed a figure that attracts a lot of atte...Log In or Sign Up to Read More

The main narrative in this new novel from the talented Stead (When You Reach Me, rev. 7/09) follows seventh-grader Bridget Barsamian, who nearly died in an accident when she was eight. A nurse’s comment that she “must have been put on this earth for a reason…to have survived” confounds her still; Bridge’s eventual, happy discovery of that reason is believable and moving. Stead’s intricately crafted story (so many connections, so much careful foreshadowing) explores various configurations of love and friendship, and the book’s two other narrative threads fittingly involve Valentine’s Day. In one, Bridge’s new friend Sher...Log In or Sign Up to Read More

Seventh grader Bridget nearly died in an accident when she was eight. A nurse's comment that she "must have been put on this earth for a r...Log In or Sign Up to Read More