About the Book

Book: Zoey: Meet the Misfits & Zoey: Odd Girl Out

Author: Melody Carlson

Genre: Middle grade fiction for girls

Release Date: April 15/ August 15, 2019

Zoey’s pretty sure her life is over when her wannaba-rockstar mother uproots her from from their home in Seattle and deposits her in Nowheresville, Oregon to live with her whackadoodle grandparents. Things start to look up, though, when she reconnects with Louisa, the girl from across the street. Maybe, just maybe, Louisa won’t mind that Zoey’s always been a bit of a misfit. Louisa’s ex-BFF, however, doesn’t seem too happy to welcome Zoey to the neighborhood. And when they all end up at church camp together, it’s not just a matter of whether or not Zoey can fit in…it becomes a firsthand lesson in what it really means to “love your enemy.”

When the school year begins, Zoey’s terrified to go without Louisa—who’s out with a nasty flu. The same enemies she made over the summer are there to haunt her, but she and another new girl stick together…and even seem to find a place among the in-crowd. But is this who Zoey wants to be? Are they really her friends? Who’s going to stick beside her when cyber bullying leaves her as the odd girl out?

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My Review

I was pleased to see Melody Carlson’ts middle-school book Meet the Misfits: Zoey, Odd Girl Out appear on the Celebrate Lit Blog Tour. As a former middle school teacher, I’ve seen a definite lack of good fiction geared toward this age group.

I love the concept of introducing “misfits” because those students (and I was one of them) are a target for bullying, and the availability of technology today makes that even more pervasive than when I was a child. Melody Carlson does a nice job of showing the different groups of students (such as the A-listers and misfits) and how they don’t interconnect. How much richer would their middle school years be if they did!

I struggled in the very beginning of the story because it felt like pages of telling, rather than showing. Backstory is important, however, to get the reader to understand how Zoey ended up living with her grandparents, yet also having a summer experience with several of the characters in her first year of middle school. Once the story took off, I was hooked.

The author did a superb job of making Zoey very real, which kept me reading even when I had other things I should have been doing. It was more important to me that Zoey get to the bottom of the bullying than having dinner on the table! I am certainly not the target reader for this book, yet I couldn’t put it down. That’s the real art of a writer—to grab a reader of any age and dangle them through the emotions of the characters.

There were a few times in the story I felt the vocabulary didn’t quite fit a sixth grader. However, since my kids haven’t been that age for a very long time, and I know that often those that are misfits tend to be more mature and intelligent than your average student, it’s quite possible that I’m out of touch with the age group.

I also liked how Melody Carlson brought in the gospel message without hitting the reader over the head with it. She also did a nice job portraying the reality that because students are part of a Christian youth group, it doesn’t mean they’re going to necessarily follow the practices preached to them. So real.

I received a complimentary copy of this book for the purposes of reviewing, but the opinions are my own.

About the Author

Melody Carlson has written more than 200 books for teens, women, and children. That’s a lot of books, but mostly she considers herself a “storyteller.” Her young adult novels appeal to teenage girls around the world. Her annual Christmas novellas become more popular each year. She’s won a number of awards (including RT’s Career Achievement Award, the Rita and the Gold Medallion) and some of her books have been optioned for film/TV. Carlson has two grown sons and makes her home in the Pacific Northwest with her husband and yellow Lab dog.

More from Melody

Being a tween these days is more complicated than ever. With our culture’s fast pace, social networking, peer pressure . . . growing up is hard to do. So I wanted to create a relatable character with some tough challenges. And Zoey Petrizzo definitely gets more than her fair share. About to start middle-school, Zoey is forced to relocate her life with her less than conventional grandparents. And it’s not easy! My hope is that readers will either relate to Zoey, or develop more empathy for ‘misfit’ kids like her.