Mx3 Review: Small Medium at Large by Joanne Levy

Today I’m pleased to welcome my thirteen-year-old son, John, for a guest review. As you may have seen my seven-year-old, Justin, reviewed a book earlier this week. Of course his older brother had to get in on the action! The review that follows is John’s in its entirety.

• Reading level: Ages 8 and up
• Hardcover: 208 pages
• Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Childrens; 1 edition (July 3, 2012)
• ISBN-10: 159990836
• Source: Author

Lilah Bloom is a normal twelve-year-old girl. Things change when, attending her mom’s wedding, she gets struck by lightening. When she wakes up she can hear voices. At first she thinks she’s losing her mind but soon realizes it is the voices of the dead that are popping into her head. The first she hears is that of her grandmother, Bubby Dora, a woman that isn’t afraid to voice her opinion. Bubby is worried about Lilah’s dad who still hasn’t gone out on a date even though his ex-wife has gotten married. Bubby becomes obsessed with making Lilah’s father attractive to the opposite sex and making sure his life is happy.

Lilah has a lot on her mind already. She has a crush on Andrew Finkel but afraid to do anything about it. She’s helped when Andrew’s dad, who passed away recently, makes his presence known. Joined by Bubby, Andrew’s dad, and a bunch of other spirits, Lilah gets the courage to go to the seventh-grade dance with Andrew.

Ok, you may notice that I am a boy and this book is about a girl. That actually never made a difference to me when I agreed to review this book for my mom’s blog. I’ve never had a problem really reading books with girl characters. The only thing I say no to are princess books. I have to draw the line somewhere, right?

My point is that this doesn’t feel like a girl book. Lilah is obviously a girl but I didn’t really notice, you know? I mean, there were parts that were a little…awkward…like when she goes shopping for bras. Yikes. Other than that, though, her being a girl really wasn’t obvious.

This was a really fun book to read. Lilah is a pretty hilarious girl who is going through a lot of things kids my age are going through like bullies, school, dating…you know, teen stuff. So when she starts to hear voices, that sort of stresses her out a bit. It would me, too. If I started hearing voices I might think I was going crazy!  What helps is that Lilah isn’t afraid to tell her friends about her new gift. Overall, they are pretty supportive and understanding, which is pretty awesome.

So, this is a fun book to read if you want something with a touch of the supernatural, but it is definitely a book that can be read any time of the year. I think anyone my age would enjoy reading this, girl or boy!