Bea Learns to Be Herself in THE WAY TO BEA

Synopsis: Bea had an amazing summer visiting family in Taiwan, but now she’s back to seventh grade… and it’s not going well at all. She lost her best friend, her mom’s having a baby and she’s not really sure where she fits into the equation. Anytime something embarrassing or frightening happens, Bea has a tendency to run away (literally). But, with the help of an amazing librarian and a new peer group to get to know, Bea soon realizes that being herself is more important than trying to be someone you’re not.

Review: I really felt this story rang true of a middle grade student searching for their place in the world. Bea’s friends have completely started ignoring her, her parents are super into their own work and the new baby on the way and Bea is left trying to figure out how to navigate middle school without the constants that she knows and loves. I felt that this was a feeling so many kids share at some point in their school days and I found Bea to be extremely relatable as a character. Did she always make the right choice? Nope, but she learned from her mistakes and forced herself to open to possible new friends who liked her for her and embraced her weirdness.

I think this could pair really well with The First Rule of Punk by Celia C. Pérez as both girls deal with parents who don’t always “get them” and learning where they fit in within their school. Plus, music plays a big part in both stories! Pair these two up!

Twitter Booktalk (280ish characters or less): Bea’s feeling invisible – at home and at school. But with the help of an amazing librarian and a new group of kids to hang out with, maybe Bea doesn’t really want to be invisible anymore!

Title: The Way to Bea
Author: Kat Yeh
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: September 19, 2017
Page Number: 352 pgs.