Quagmire Tiarello Couldn't Be Better. Mylisa Larsen. 2024. 240 pages. [Source: Library] [3 stars] [mg fiction, realistic fiction]
First sentence: When Principal Deming asked Quagmire Tiarello what he was planning on doing with the first day of his summer vacation, Quag did not tell him that he planned on sleeping in until at least noon.
Premise/plot: Quagmire (Quag) is NOT having the best summer ever, or even a decent summer--not really. His mom's mental health is spiraling out of control [again] and Quag is barely holding the family together. He is spending some time with the girl of his dreams at art camp, all the while pretending to have a great interest in birds. But for the most part, he's dreading the ultimate crash that will come. Will he get the help he needs when it does?
My thoughts: I don't know that every library has a division of just two categories--a book is either J for juvenile or Teen for teen. I do wish there was an MG section. I can see why teens might not want to read about an eighth grader [almost ninth grader]. But the main character seems WAY too old for juvenile. Does it matter where it's filed? Maybe. Maybe not. Probably not. Just that this is definitely a book with teen characters dealing with hard life issues. That might be appealing for younger readers. I don't think the main "problem" is exclusively a problem that only teens deal with. Quagmire's mom's mental health is a MESS and it is really effecting Quagmire on every level. This is a coming of age story of sorts about how he finds the help he needs even if it isn't easy or natural to ask for help and be honest about how awful things are at home.
© 2024 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews
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