Kelly Easton

After years of never leaving her house and having to serve her cruel parents night and day, Liberty Aimes finally gets the chance to escape after discovering her father's secret lab. A bit of lifting potion and comprehension cream send her on her way with the sudden ability to communicate with animals. Hoping to find her way to an elite boarding school she's heard about via the mail, Liberty starts on an adventure like no other!

I saw this book by chance at my local library and thought the whimsical cover art was appealing. Further inspection into the description sounded promising and I even considered perhaps purchasing a copy for a young one in my life. Good thing I decided to read the book first.

The book starts out with a very rocky start on page by describing the Aimes home thus: "The house at 33 Gooch Street was decrepit beyond description. If it could walk, it would limp. If it could talk, it would stutter. If it could smile, it would have rotting teeth." Could you imagine being a child born with a physical disability (particularly a limp or a stutter) and realizing this author equates that with rottenness and decrepitness? What a horrible feeling that must be.

Within that first chapter, the author goes on to describe Liberty's foul parents: Her mother is overweight ("her mother was fat, Libby knew, because she ate nonstop.") and her father has a crooked back and smells bad. Let me be clear: Liberty's parents are awful people. But they are awful people because of the way they treat their daughter, not because of the way they look. Maybe it was just because this book was so blatant about it, but I am so tired of children's books in particular equating evil with ugly, fat, and/or old. Take note children's authors: You are not doing children any favors by brainwashing them into believing that the only ones out to hurt them are people who are unattractive or overweight. (The book does slightly redeem itself later by having Liberty note in her thoughts that it's hard to tell which people she should trust out in the world because there's no easy sign. But it's one of those cases of too little, too late.)

Liberty's father is also self-described early on as a "friggin' genius," a description that is repeated numerous times throughout the book. Keep in mind that the main character in this book is 10 years old, and children reading the book are like to be between 8 and 12 years old themselves. Is a sarcastically thrown "friggin' genius" really something you'd want your 8-year-old saying? I don't know why this word choice was considered a good idea.

However, the rest of the book picks up from that poor beginning, although it is not without some additional flaws. Liberty's adventures make for a pretty quick read, as you want to know what will happen next or how she will get out of some new scrape. Still, there's nothing here that's earth-shattering or amazing. If you've read other books about plucky orphans or runaways, this book isn't anything terribly exciting in terms of newness, although it will hold your attention fairly well. You'll probably even guess the ending (or at least part of it), although some of the fun is reading on to see if you're right.

Speaking of the ending, it's worth noting that the otherwise happy conclusion is again soiled by the author's fat shaming, as Liberty's mother is 'rescued' by her old boyfriend Worm Man, who immediately demands that she eat only healthy food going forward and exercise daily after he realizes that his former flame is 'hidden' somewhere in that "big blob of flesh." Some knight in shining armor.

The pencil drawings scattered throughout the book are fitting to the text and inject an amount of charm into a book that needs it at times.… (mere)

This book tells the coming of age story of Sage, who grows up with a bipolar mom. Sage will do anything to be like the popular girl at her school, Mona. What she doesn't realize, however, is how along the way by pretending to be someone else, is she'll soon find herself with no genuine friends and an abusive boyfriend who only wants her to himself. By the end of the book, Sage comes to term with her true self and realizes her friends will always be there for her in the end. I definitely recommend this book to everyone who enjoys a good YA book.… (mere)