YA Book #Review: Last Summer With Maizon (Maizon 1) by Jacqueline Woodson

Book Title: Last Summer with Maizon (Maizon 1)
Author: Jacqueline Woodson  |Website| Twitter| Facebook| Instagram

Publisher:  Puffin Books
Genre: Young Adult, Social Situations
Series/Standalone: Book 1
Format: Trade paperback, Trade Hardcover

Cost: $7.99

Pages: 144

How I got it: Purchased

Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | IndieBound
Publication Date: May 27, 2002
Add To Goodreads
Synopsis:

Margaret loves her parents and hanging out with her best friend, Maizon. Then it happens, like a one-two punch, during the summer she turns eleven: first, Margaret's father dies of a heart attack, and then Maizon is accepted at an expensive boarding school, far away from the city they call home. For the first time in her life, Margaret has to turn to someone who isn't Maizon, who doesn't know her heart and her dreams. . . .

Whew Chile, I was not prepared for this very emotional story and considering its size it packs quite a punch. I can totally see why Jacqueline Woodson has so many awards because she conveyed so much in so few pages and made it all relatable.  This is the story of two young girls who are in the summer right before 6th grade, and the changes their lives are about to face. Can they survive with their friendship intact or will the coming changes push them too far apart??

I do wish we had gotten more though but my gosh this was impactful. I felt Margaret's hurt about the changes in her life and the upheaval it caused.  After reading this I learned that the book is actually part of a series so I will be picking those up as well

Maizon's changes as well hurt my heart because I knew it was coming. She was so happy and hopeful and I knew the world is cruel to little black girls so I knew especially here in CT where I'm from that this wasn't going to end well for her. Even if it was an amazing opportunity. The world isn't the kindest to young smart black girls.

Margeret is an extremely inciteful child to be able to see what some adults would have missed. I'm glad Margeret and Marizon had each other for these changes and could rely on each other.

I loved the portrayal of friendships in this story. All the different friendships the girls experience and how they help them get through all the changes that happen.  I loved the glimpses of grief and how each person deals with it. A great read for any grade level to be sure.

 ★★★★★

Be prepared for some tough questions if you read this to the kiddos. And bring tissues. 
Happy Reading my loves, 

Dewy's 24 Hour Read-a-thon Wrap Up : April 26th,2015 | Bewitching Bibliophle

My TBR for this challenge was pretty small. I did that on purpose, 1) so I can get these books read and 2) because big books wouldn't really work with this project if I'm working most of it. The hours especially were from 8am Saturday until 8 am Sunday; I was scheduled to work on Saturday morning, but my boss called me and told me to come in for the evening, which totally worked in my favor, because I could read from 8am until 230pm. And that's how I got five and half books read.

Instead I picked the following five books which are each under 200 pages, and I wanted to see how many I could get read. I know my normal speed would allow me to read 400 page book in about 4-6 hours (depending on how distracted I am).  With that in mind I read the following during the read-a-thon:

These are quick reads, but I was able to clear a few books from my list, and finally read two that I got at BEA 2014. Bye Bye guilt!! I'm loving it, these read a thons are pretty kick ass. I loved the cheerleading group that I had, they were sweet and checked in on my progress, apparently we were #teamfrodo (yassss Lord of the Rings reference, how awesome).

If you want to make sure to check out the #readathon hashtag on twitter and instagram, so many people participated that way and shared their reading progress, even if I wasn't on for long I could follow along and see how well everyone was doing.Reviews for the books read will be coming up soon so keep an eye out.

Did you participate?? What was on your list?? Make sure to swing by Dewey's blog to learn about the sign up times and the readathon that's coming up in the fall.

Good Luck with what you're reading and see you in the fall!!