Skip to main content

Dress Coded

Image
By
Dress Coded
By Carrie Firestone
New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 2020. Fiction.

Molly Frost is fed up with the unfair and unevenly enforced dress code at Fisher Middle School. Since the first day of seventh grade, Molly has seen her friends and female classmates be targeted, harassed, and embarrassed by the school administration and their unflinching adherence to rules -- even over the comfort of students. When Molly's friend Olivia is dress-coded and the school administration cancels the eighth-grade field trip -- blaming Olivia -- Molly decides enough is enough. She starts Dress Coded: A Podcast where she publishes her classmates' horror stories. And, little by little, Molly's quiet insurrection ignites into a movement. After letters to the school district are ignored, Molly and her growing group of supporters take their case to the school board and a full-on protest is born.

This book should be read by any and all tweens with a passion for social justice or a desire to take action. Molly and a wonderfully diverse, sprawlingly inclusive, and deeply varied group of supporting female characters are likable, realistic, and add authenticity to this middle school story. Subplots spring out in all directions, dealing with friendship, bullying, crushes, and Molly's brother's vape dealing; but even with many characters and storylines, nothing in this book feels out of place and the reader is rewarded with a believable glimpse into the fictional Fisher Middle School. This book is triumphant, important, long overdue, and, best of all, a great read.


Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Five Faves: Mysterious High-Low Intermediate Books

By
Intermediate Mystery books are a gold mine. High-low books refer to titles that are of high interest to readers, but contain low level vocabulary. These titles are clever, action-packed, and have several books in the series to keep the mystery alive. These intermediate mystery books are the first in their series and are sure to appease any mystery loving reader. The Ghost Tree Written by Natasha Deen Illustrated by Lissy Marlin New York: Random House Children's Books, 2022. Intermediate. 95 pages. With a dash of paranormal mixed with mystery, this book introduces Asim, a Guyanese American fourth grader who moves to a new town. After a visit to a graveyard, an evil spirit is unleashed. Asim works with new friends, Rokshar and Max, to save their town. With scarily cool illustrations to accompany this text, this book is great for any amateur sleuths who love a touch of creepy. Detective Duck: The Case of the Strange Splash Written by Henry Winkler and Lin Oliver Illustrated by Dan San
Post a Comment
Read more

Display: Dino-mite Reads

By
Goldilocks and the Three Dinosaurs By Mo Willems New York: Balzar + Bray, 2012. Picture Book. "Once upon a time, there were three hungry Dinosaurs: Papa Dinosaur, Mama Dinosaur . . . and a Dinosaur who happened to be visiting from Norway. One day--for no particular reason--they decided to tidy up their house, make the beds, and prepare pudding of varying temperatures. And then--for no particular reason--they decided to go . . . someplace else. They were definitely not setting a trap for some succulent, unsupervised little girl. Definitely not!" --Editor Smart Vs. Strong! Written by Jill Esbaum Illustrated by Miles Thompson New York: Simon Spotlight, 2021. Easy Reader. 64 pages. "When Thunder gets stuck in quicksand, Cluck uses his smarts to free his friend." --Editor How Dinosaurs Went Extinct Written by Ame Dyckman Illustrated by Jennifer Harney New York: Brown and Company, 2023. Picture Book. "When a child in a museum asks how dinosaurs became extinct, Dad co
Post a Comment
Read more

Review: The Enigma Girls

By
  The Enigma Girls By Candace Fleming New York: Scholastic Focus, 2024. Informational. 371 pages. If you have an interest in little known aspects of history or in World War II in particular, this book is for you. The Enigma Girls tells the story of 10 young women who worked at Station X at Bletchley Park in England helping to break ciphers during World War II. Each of the girls grew up in different circumstances, and thus, each worked at in a different part of Station X cracking codes. The reader learns about how Station X worked through the stories of each of the girls. Whether it was transcribing the Morse code messages that the Germans were sending to their armies or decoding, translating, or paraphrasing messages, each girl had a part to play. The stories of the girls are intermixed with plenty of photographs as well as special chapters about how to decode various types of ciphers. Learning about Station X through the eyes of the girls that worked there helps the reader gain a huma
Post a Comment
Read more