Simon Sort of Says
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Simon Sort of Says
Grades 7 & up
Realistic Fiction
Stand on the Sky The Scorpion Rules Plain Kate |
Book Summary:
Simon and his family are working on surviving trauma, so they move to a small town in Nebraska where no Internet or TV (or microwaves) are allowed - the better for astrophysicists to detect alien signals. The trauma still pops up all the time, but it's not all Simon is, so he is glad - sort of - to start over in a new place. Simon meets new friends - Agate, who has a million siblings and goats and schemes about faking an alien space signal to cheer up the researchers, and Kevin, who likes video games and laughs, and struggles with his mom's insistence that he be academically excellent at the expense of everything else. It seems like a fresh start, but when the old past comes creeping in - even in an Internet-less, cell phone-less town - Simon and his family have to face the heartbreak in a more public way - again. Book Review: This book is hilarious, and it has no right to be. Simon has survived a horrific school shooting, but this isn't revealed immediately, and that's a genius choice, because we get to know him beyond this thing that happened to him. Simon's mom is a funeral director and his dad is a deacon, and both of them are funny and irreverent - maybe to a startling degree for some readers. This isn't a book about tragedy, but about moving forward, and about how you are more than your worst things, even though they affect you in ways others might not understand at first. In an age of ever-present social media, this book also asks readers to consider how they treat people beyond the rumors and the headlines, and how those things contribute to harm. What makes the book perfect for middle school is that it's a thoughtful exploration of meaningful issues couched in some ridiculous scenes and the sharing (and relishing) of some very gross fun facts. I laughed out loud multiple times without being a gross fact connoisseur. It's a great book. "And the gate screeches. That would be fine, except the peacock - who has a tail the size of a golf umbrella and a brain the size of a shriveled lima bean - always thinks it's another male peacock. Like, every day he thinks this. . . He snaps and spits and attempts to rake you with his spurs. He is not the sharpest knife in the drawer, but he does have some very sharp parts. We call him Pretty Stabby."
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