IVY ABERDEEN’S LETTER TO THE WORLD is a fabulous addition to LGBTQ tween books, and I can’t rave about it enough!
IVY ABERDEEN’S LETTER TO THE WORLD is a pitch-perfect middle-grade book!
If you are looking for a fabulous book for a tween questioning his or her identity, or if you know a reader who loves thought-provoking coming-of-age stories, you must check out IVY ABERDEEN’S LETTER TO THE WORLD, by Ashley Herring Blake, stat.
My goodness, can middle-grade books get any better? Where were these phenomenal stories when I was in fifth and sixth grade?
Get Ivy Aberdeen’s Letter to the World right here!
When I was 12 years old, Hurricane Andrew destroyed my home in Miami. It was a pivotal year in my life. I had just become a Bat Mitzvah, and I was also struggling to figure out if I would ever become a graceful teenager and not just a gawky teen.
I longed to know if boys would ever look my way, and I wondered if my community would ever get put back together after suffering from total destruction. So many questions, so much angst— and so few stories to help me feel less alone and less confused.
RELATED: Looking for more books for tweens? We’ve got great books for 10-year-olds and awesome novels for 5th-graders.
Tweens will see themselves in IVY ABERDEEN’S LETTER TO THE WORLD
I wish I’d had a book like IVY ABERDEEN’S LETTER TO THE WORLD when I was young and dealing with those tough, awkward tween years. Our 10-year-olds need this book. Our eleven and twelve and thirteen-year-olds will hang on to every page. Ivy’s angst hit all the right notes and resonated so very deeply.
In this story, a tornado rages through Ivy’s town and destroys her home. All Ivy manages to save is her pillow which contains her most precious possessions inside its thin case. These possessions? Fancy markers and a journal filled up with drawings, many of which contain illustrations of Ivy and an unidentifiable girl.
While staying in a school gym with other displaced persons after the storm, Ivy’s notebook goes missing. Then, her pictures turn up in her own locker, together with notes encouraging her to be true to herself and come clean with who she is at her core. Ivy begins to hope that the mysterious letters are coming from her secret crush. Will she let go of her fears and embrace who she is meant to be? Is it ok if she likes girls as more than just friends?
RELATED: We’ve got a fantastic selection of books for 6th graders, so be sure to check them out!
IVY ABERDEEN’S LETTER TO THE WORLD reminds us we are not alone
IVY ABERDEEN’S LETTER TO THE WORLD will be a valuable window book for some and a mirror book for so many others. Most importantly, as the author states, it is a book that reminds us we are not alone even when we feel different.
Ivy fears being unlike those around her. She fears being shunned for wanting something so different than her friends and her big sister. After all, when Ivy’s sister and her best friend stop speaking, Ivy believes it’s because her sister’s friend has come out of the closet. Ivy thus fears her sister will disown her, too.
Every single one of us has experienced, the unsettling and anxiety-provoking fear that comes hand in hand with feeling so wholly different from those around us.
Though not all tweens will experience the exact yearnings expressed in Ivy’s story, the burning desire to understand who you are at your core is universal. Ivy reminds us to not simply accept those things that make us unique but to love them, too.
IVY ABERDEEN’S LETTER TO THE WORLD gave me chills, and it is a book of incredible importance that has an especially significant place in every library, classroom, and bookshelf. While wonderful for all children, tween girls especially will be able to relate to this book!
I am so grateful to the fabulous kidlit authors that continually place these notable books into children’s hands around the globe. There is nothing like a book to make you feel less alone and more understood.
Get IVY ABERDEEN’S LETTER TO THE WORLD right here!
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