#MMGM: Jennifer Chan is Not Alone by Tae Keller
ABOUT THE BOOK
Mallory Moss knows how the world works. After meeting the cool girl, Reagan, she finally has a best friend, and Reagan makes Mallory feel like she belongs, like she can fit in this infinite universe, as long as she follows Reagan’s simple rules: wear the right clothes, control your image, know your place.
But when Jennifer Chan moves into the house across the street, those rules don’t feel quite so simple anymore. Because Jennifer is different. She doesn’t seem to care about the laws of middle school, or the laws of the universe. She’s willing to embrace the strange, the unknown… the extraterrestrial. She believes in aliens—and what’s more, she thinks she can find them.
Then Jennifer goes missing. The adults say she ran away…but where is she going? And why? Using clues in Jennifer’s journals about alien encounters, Mallory attempts to find her. But the closer she gets, the more Mallory has to confront why Jennifer might have run … and face the truth within herself.
REVIEW
Jennifer Chan is Not Alone broke my heart in a lot of ways, and yet reminded me that people can change. I found it interesting that the story is told from Mallory's point of view. Mallory who hangs out with the 'mean girls', although neither she nor her friends considers themselves that way. Mallory worries a great deal about who she is and what others see when they look at her. Popular girl, Reagan, teaches her that controlling your image is the way to find her identity. But when Jennifer Chan moves to town, Mallory learns that while power and control are intoxicating, they aren't the way to find friends or come to peace with yourself. Jennifer Chan knows who she is and what she believes in and she shows it at school. Mallory is drawn to quality in Jennifer and yet she's afraid of it as well. After befriending Jennifer at her mother's insistence, Mallory follows Reagan's lead in treating Jennifer poorly. Mallory convinces herself that Jennifer needs to follow the 'rules' in order to be accepted. After what Mallory calls "the Incident", Jennifer disappears and Mallory feels compelled to find her. But Reagan refuses to help. Mallory turns to Kath and Ingrid for help, but discovers that she will need to step out of her comfort zone and face some unpleasant truths in order to have a chance at finding Jennifer.
I really rode an emotional roller coaster while reading this book. I empathized with Mallory's worries as she tries to figure out her identity. This is a common struggle in middle school. But I also got really frustrated with her willingness to follow everything that Reagan and Tess suggested, even when she knew it was wrong. She justified some awful behavior by telling herself it was 'necessary' to help Jennifer understand the 'rules'. And honestly, I had a hard time reading about 'the Incident'. Having experienced bullying in middle school myself, my heart broke for Jennifer. I was so angry at Mallory and her friends. I guess what this proves is that Tae Keller wrote a remarkably relatable book. When she explains in the author's note at the end that the book is based on experiences she had in middle school, it explained how she managed to make it feel so real and so emotionally powerful. The science information involving space and the search for alien connection made for a fascinating side plot with some interesting twists and turns. All in all I find this to be a well-written, important book for middle grade readers. Books like this one are so important in helping young readers develop empathy. And telling the story from Mallory's point-of-view allows readers to get a feel for what it's like to try to correct a mistake. I appreciated the reminder that while people make mistakes all the time, sometimes some pretty horrible ones, it's also possible to change, to be better, and to help make the world a better place. As I like to tell my students, that's the reason the word's 'I'm sorry' were invented.
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