Middle Grade Realistic Fiction: Maybe Maybe Marisol Rainey & Surely Surely Marisol Rainey by Erin Entrada Kelly
ABOUT THE BOOK
Introducing eight-year-old Marisol Rainey!
Marisol Rainey’s mother was born in the Philippines. Marisol’s father works and lives part-time on an oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico. And Marisol, who has a big imagination and likes to name inanimate objects, has a tree in her backyard she calls Peppina . . . but she’s way too scared to climb it. This all makes Marisol the only girl in her small Louisiana town with a mother who was born elsewhere and a father who lives elsewhere (most of the time)—the only girl who’s fearful of adventure and fun.
Will Marisol be able to salvage her summer and have fun with Jada, her best friend? Maybe. Will Marisol figure out how to get annoying Evie Smythe to leave her alone? Maybe. Will Marisol ever get to spend enough real time with her father? Maybe. Will Marisol find the courage to climb Peppina? Maybe.
Told in short chapters with illustrations by the author on nearly every page.
REVIEW
Marisol Rainey's life is full of maybes. Maybe she can enjoy the summer, even if she's too afraid to climb Peppina, the tree in her backyard. Maybe she can like school if she can avoid Evie Smythe. Maybe she can learn to accept her father's frequent absences. Like so many children, Marisol is a worrier. Those worries make it difficult for her to do some of the things she wants to do, like climbing Peppina, the tree in the backyard. Despite her challenges though, there is much in her life that Marisol loves, watching silent movies with her father for example. Too bad he isn't around more often. Marisol's efforts to overcome her challenges are admirable, and her friendship with Jada is amazing, the kind of friendship every child needs. I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know Marisol and her strengths and weaknesses and quirks. Her tendency to name inanimate objects for example was, I thought, a fun quirk for her to possess. This was a fun, easy-to-relate to realistic story about a girl trying to overcome her fears and worries. I flew through it especially enjoying the conversations she has with her friend Jada.
ABOUT THE BOOK
Marisol Rainey's two least-favorite things are radishes and gym class. She avoids radishes with very little trouble, but gym is another story--especially when Coach Decker announces that they will be learning to play kickball.
There are so many things that can go wrong in kickball. What if Marisol tries to kick the ball . . . but falls down? What if she tries to catch the ball and gets smacked in the nose? What if she's the worst kickballer in the history of kickball? Marisol and her best friend Jada decide to get help from the most unlikely--and most annoying--athlete in the world: Marisol's big brother, Oz.
Told in short chapters with illustrations by the author on almost every page, Erin Entrada Kelly's stand-alone companion novel to Maybe Maybe Marisol Rainey celebrates the small but mighty Marisol, the joys of friendship, the power of being different, and the triumph of persevering. Surely Surely Marisol Rainey is ideal for readers of Kevin Henkes, Meg Medina, Judy Blume, and Beverly Cleary.
REVIEW
Things go wrong for young Marisol when her coach begins a kickball unit in P.E. Marisol worries about all the bad things that could happen playing kickball. With her father away on an oil rig, Marisol and her best friend, Jada, decide to get help from Marisol's brother, Oz, who is a fabulous soccer player. But one practice doesn't seem enough to save Marisol from utter humiliation and the taunts of her nemesis Evie Smythe. At the same time, Marisol tries to figure out if her friend Felix's claim to be able to talk to animals is true. She sets up an experiment hoping that it will help her with both issues. Once again, Marisol faces off with what she calls her 'brain train', her tendency to overthink and over worry. Hopefully, with the help of her family and Jada, she can find a way to work through these newest challenges in her life. I find Marisol to be a charming character and one that I can easily relate to (she's not the only one with a 'brain train'). I appreciate how real Marisol feels as she struggles with her worries and her feelings and her relationships. She snaps at her friend, she gets angry that her dad isn't around when she wants him to be, and she's annoyed by Evie's bragging. Many young readers will be able to connect with Marisol and her worries.
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