Frazzled

I'm kind of on a roll with books for kids as of late, and if you have a child in the ages of 8-12, this is something you might want to add to your holiday shopping list for them.

Frazzled: Everyday Disasters & Impending Doom - Booki Vivat

Meet Abbie Wu! She’s about to start middle school and she’s totally in crisis.

Abbie Wu is in crisis—and not just because she’s stuck in a family that doesn’t quite get her or because the lunch ladies at school are totally corrupt or because everyone seems to have a “Thing” except her. Abbie Wu is in crisis always.

Heavily illustrated and embarrassingly honest, Frazzled dives right into the mind of this hilariously neurotic middle school girl as she tries to figure out who she is, where she belongs, and how to survive the everyday disasters of growing up. With Abbie’s flair for the dramatic and natural tendency to freak out, middle school has never seemed so nerve-racking!

Packed with hilarious black-and-white illustrations and doodles throughout, Frazzled takes readers through Abbie Wu’s hysterical middle school adventures. 

I can't remember if I signed up to review this or if this is one that just comes to me with the hopes I'll have time to review it, but I'm sure glad it landed in my mailbox, that's for sure. I have two kids who fit into the recommend 8-12 age group so they are working on reading the book now that I'm done with it. I have one child (Olivia, age 11) who is an avid reader, she flies through books quickly and likes to try different genres. I have another child (Jackson, age 8) who likes to read, but will often get discouraged if it's too challenging for him or if it's "too long". The great part about this book, which seems like it's kind of a trend in books for this age group, is that it's illustrated throughout and almost like a comic, but not really that same format. It basically makes the almost 250 pages go quickly and for kids like my son, who gets easily frustrated if he feels like he isn't reading fast enough, this is a good confidence booster book. They'll finish it pretty quickly and it's a great story.

But let's talk about the story because even my old self laughed at this book because I don't care how old you are, you remember middle school. You remember the fear of your first day and every day of doom until the end and this book really captured it. The book is about Abbie who is starting middle school and she's pretty concerned. She doesn't have any real interests or talents and she already feels lost when she can't figure out what elective to choose, so she ends up in dreaded study hall. Her mom is thrilled to send her off to school and her siblings are all special and great in their own right, but Abbie is just Abbie. She dreads being compared to her older, great-at-everything older brother. She has the worst homeroom teacher, she's split up from her friends, and it's a really tough transition from elementary school.

I absolutely loved Abbie. I could really relate to her and all of her dramatic, my-life-is-over theatrics and worries are ones I know I had when I started middle school. It's such a tough time for kids and it really can feel like the end of the world. The story is written well, accompanied with fun illustrations, and I think kids are going to relate to Abbie and her worries. I highly recommend this book and like I said before, you might want to read it quickly yourself to revisit the dramatics.. just for fun.