Marvelous Middle Grade Monday
Popcorn (Dial Books for Young Readers, 2024) by Rob Harrell is such a good book–full of humor and heart! And it only covers one day in the of the main character. Well worth a read.
Seventh-grader Andrew has problems. His grandmother, G, is living with them and has Alzheimer’s, he has to hide his odd behaviors at school, there’s always the threat of Mean Gene, and it’s school picture day. If that’s not enough to provoke anxiety in anyone, it’s worse for Andrew who struggles with anxiety. His biggest fear is to explode into a panic attack at school.
Andrew was inspired by the author’s own experiences with anxiety, so comes across as very real. I had such sympathy for Andrew and for others in the book. I loved his relationship with his best friend, Jonesy. I enjoyed all the mishaps during his day.
Popcorn received a Schneider Family Book Award for Middle Grades (2025) and has been nominated for others this year. Inside are sketches “by” Andrew of what his life is like.
Read about Rob here and see his other books here.
This sounds like a really interesting book. Thanks for the review. Happy MMGM.
I found it so.
This was a good mix of sadness and humor, making it a little different from all the really sad that has been bogging down #MGLit.
I agree!
I enjoyed this one too. Andrew was the highlight and really carried the plot forward. Thanks for featuring your review on this week’s MMGM!
I probably noticed the book on your blog!
Curious to see how the title plays into the plot. Sounds like a wonderful story either way. Happy MMGM
The title definitely plays in. 😉
Interesting idea–the single day. Sounds like an intriguing book.
It’s amazing what happens during one day.
It’s unusual for a book to cover only one day. That alone makes this interesting to me. I’ll try to check it out. Thanks for the review.
It was very well done.