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

Review: Fowl Play

By
  Fowl Play By Kristin O'Donnell Tubb New York: Katherine Tegen Books, 2024. Fiction 277 pages. Still reeling from her beloved uncle's death, Chloe Alvarez is comforted and confused when at his last will and testament reading, Uncle Will gifts her his African Grey parrot, Charlie. Charlie has a robust vocabulary and loves to make Alexa requests for her favorite songs, but when she starts saying things like, "homicide," and "cyanide," Chloe becomes convinced that Uncle Will may have met his demise by murder instead of a genetic disease, as was previously thought. Ultimately, bringing in her brother, Grammy, and Uncle Frank (and of course Charlie,) Chloe's ragtag and adoring family support her search for answers ---going on stakeouts, engaging in fast pursuits, and searching for clues. But as the suspects stack up and the mystery grows, Chole will learn that the process of death and grieving is complicated, and in the end her Uncle Will's words that, ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Review: The Factory

By
The Factory By Catherine Egan New York, NY : Scholastic Inc., 2025. Fiction. 306 pages.  Thirteen-year-old Asher Doyle has been invited to join the Factory, a secretive research facility in the desert which ostensibly extracts renewable energy from the electromagnetic fields of its young recruits. But Asher soon realizes something sinister is going on. Kids are getting sick. The adults who run the Factory seem to be keeping secrets. And the extraction process is not only painful and exhausting, but existentially troubling. Asher makes a handful of new friends who help him with an investigation that turns into a resistance, which turns into...a cliffhanger! The Factory is a page-turning sci-fi with multidimensional characters, an intriguing plot, and refreshingly straight-forward writing. Egan weaves in detail about climate crises and social unrest, making the story's dystopian setting feel rich and plausible. With its sophisticated themes and accessible storytelling, I would recomm...
Post a Comment
Read more

Review: A Game of Noctis

By
A Game of Noctis By Deva Fagan New York: Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2024. Fiction. 310 pages. On the island of Dantessa, social standings and wealth are determined by your place in the Great Game. If you keep on winning, you can reap treasures, power, and security for yourself and your family; but if you lose too many games, you'll be exiled to Pawn Island and a life of servitude. That's what happens to 12-year-old Pia's grandfather. Due to poor vision, he struggles to see the games, but also can't afford new eyeglasses without winning. When his score falls to zero, he is sent away. Desperate to bring him back, Pia joins a ragtag group of misfits to form a team for the annual game of Noctis. The game requires contestants to perform dangerous challenges in front of a live audience, and no one outside the wealthy Diamond District has ever won. Each member of Pia's team, the Seafoxes, has their own reason to compete, but if they're going to win they'll h...
Post a Comment
Read more