For me, school has started and fall reading has begun. I just finished reading a wonderful book called “Jennifer Chan is not alone” by Newberry Award winning author Tae Keller. This book is based on the author’s life experience while in middle school. I had read one of Ms. Keller’s books before and had absolutely enjoyed it. I was excited to find this book written by the author Tae Keller in the local library. I hope you enjoy this review!!
Let me start the review with the following lines to set up the stage.
Sometimes middle school can make you feel like you’re totally alone in the universe…but what if we aren’t alone at all?
Mallory Moss, a twelve year old Asian American girl from Florida is the first one to meet Jennifer Chan. Jennifer is the new girl, who has moved from the Midwest to Florida. Jennifer, however, wasn’t like the other girls. She didn’t wear eyeliner, didn’t gossip or followed the law of middle school friends. She was different. Why? Because she believed in aliens and had several theories about them. It was sad to see her get made fun of by her peers and how she feels alienated . Things turn around when Jennifer goes missing during a school orchestra concert and everyone is looking for her including her family, neighbors, the FBI and the police. Maybe half of the small town. However, Mallory and her friends are hopeful that they can find Jennifer. Mallory feels guilty because of the incident that had happened a few days before Jennifer’s disappearance. The search is getting intense, and people are slowly losing hope. Mallory decides to look for clues in Jennifer’s journal.
Will they find Jennifer? Is Jennifer really alone? What happened to Jennifer? Is she okay? Will she be okay? What will happen next?
If you like books with mystery, suspense, friendship , bullying and growing up, this book is just for you.
What I really liked about this book was that the author had created past and present scenes. This isn’t what authors usually do in books so I thought this was really exciting and made it easy to understand. I really liked how the author covered the topic of toxic friendships and bullying. I wish more books talked about how terribly bullying can affect a person. Keller really gave a great story on how to find your identity when you don’t know who you are.
With school starting, I hope all of you guys have a good school year and be sure to make it the best one yet. I can’t believe that this is my last year of middle school until I go to high school. Keep reading everyone! Let’s be kind to each other!