Ivy Aberdeen's Letter to the World by Ashley Herring Blake

The novel could also be used as a choice during literature circles focused on disasters, coming of age, or friendship. Ivy, and students, can also see themselves in her older sister's best friend and the owner of the hotel Ivy's family is staying at. I appreciated that the novel had LGBTQ+ of varying ages that Ivy could connect with. Many titles featuring characters who identify as LGBTQ+ have other content that is too mature for middle schoolers, particularly the sixth grade level which I currently teach. I liked that while in the end, things might not have worked out perfectly for Ivy, the book still had a happy ending with Ivy and June still trying to figure out who they are.Ĭlassroom application: This novel is a perfect fit for middle school students. As Ivy and June begin to spend more time together, Ivy begins to hope that June may share her romantic feelings as well, but does not seem to notice the rift growing between herself and her best friend Taryn. She hopes it might be June, a classmate who she develops a close friendship with in the aftermath of the tornado. When the drawings start showing up in Ivy's locker along with notes, Ivy tries to puzzle out who might be leaving them for her.

To add to Ivy's troubles, her notebook filled with her most personal drawings gets lost during the transition from destroyed house to temporary shelter to hotel room. After the tornado strikes, her family relationships are even more strained with all six members of her family living out of a single hotel room.

Even before the tornado hit, Ivy felt like she wasn't fitting in with her family and her relationship with her older sister was particularly strained. The novel begins with a tornado which destroys Ivy's family's home and displaces them for the length of the novel. Why I liked it: Ivy Aberdeen's Letter to the Worldby Ashley Herring Blake is a sweet middle grades read focuses on a preteen girl who is figuring out her sexual identity and struggling to find normalcy after her town is struck by disaster.

Ivy Aberdeen's Letter to the World by Ashley Herring Blake