FICTION, FANTASY, & YA

1. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Holm, Jennifer L. 2007. Middle School is Worse then Meatloaf: a Year told through Stuff. New York: Athenaeum Books. ISBN:9780689852817

2. PLOT SUMMARY

Ginny Davis enters the seventh grade and begins a school year much like any other, full of hopes and fears, triumphs and failures. Events are recorded in a series of school notices and reports, class assignments, store receipts, e-mails, personal notes and list – the “stuff” of our daily lives. Ginny copes with babysitting, accidentally her hear pink, writing school essays, truing out for the lead in a ballet recital and losing, dealing with obnoxious brother and a new stepdad, attending a prom , breaking and arm, and baking a model brain for the science fair. The year ends with dreams of summer and the inevitable next year.

3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS

By depicting the school year through the ephemera of Ginny’s life, the author allows each reader to flesh out the bare bones of the story from his/her own personal experience. It is a literary equivalent of Andy Warhol’s pictures of soup cans, inviting us to peer deeper and seek out the hiding meaning. A delightful koan of a book that deftly pulls one into the whirl of school days.

4. REVIEW EXCERPT
“Humor balances the serious issues. Middle - school readers will recognize Ginny's world and enjoy piecing together the plot through the bits and pieces of "Stuff" depicted in Castaldi's collages. A delightful collaboration. (Graphic fiction. 10-14)”.
(2007). MIDDLE SCHOOL IS WORSE THAN MEATLOAF: A Year Told Through Stuff. Kirkus Reviews, 75(13), 667. Retrieved from Library, Information Science & Technology Abstracts with Full Text database.

5. CONNECTIONS

Kinney, J. (2007). Diary of a wimpy kid: Greg Heffley's journal. New York: Amulet Books. ISBN: 9780810993136