Say It Out Loud

Gr 4 Up–The author of Property of the Rebel Librarian (2018) has written another thought-provoking title for middle school readers. Charlotte dreads the beginning of middle school. She has to ride the bus for the first time and everything else is different. One thing remains the same for Charlotte and that’s her stuttering condition. Because she doesn’t stutter when she sings, Charlotte’s parents insist that she take musical theater as one of her electives. And when the teacher announces The Wizard of Oz as the year’s show (her favorite musical), things in middle school don’t seem quite as bad. Best of all, Charlotte still has her good friend Maddie. Then a bullying incident on the bus involving another student Ben occurs and Maddie bravely reports it to school administrators. When the bullies then seek revenge on Maddie, Charlotte is afraid to defend her friend and that inaction drives an impenetrable wedge between the girls. In despair (and because of her English class), Charlotte finds her voice in the written word and even though Maddie won’t talk to her, the little notes of affirmation she sneaks into backpacks and lockers of her other classmates begin to make a difference. Charlotte realizes that not everyone has it easy in middle school and that the collective voices of all students can make a difference. Charlotte is cued as white.