All's Faire in Middle School

I'll be honest - this is not the type of book I personally enjoy. There's just too much interpersonal drama. BUT it's a book that the kids absolutely love and it's flying off the shelves faster than I can recommend it!

Jamieson returns to the world of friendship, drama, and middle school with an unusual setting - the Renaissance Faire. Imogene has been homeschooled and basically lived at the faire where her parents work. But now she's ready for a new adventure - middle school! She's happy with her quirky clothes, renfaire friends, and especially thrilled with her new status as a squire. But when she gets to middle school, none of that matters. Her renfaire friend is picked on by all the cool kids, the teachers are mean, and she sticks show more out like a sore thumb. Things just get worse and worse until, in her desire to be accepted and fit in, she does something really awful.

Now Imogene is an outcast at school and in her own family. Her little brother hates her, she's lost her squire status, she has to be tutored by the renfaire workers she's looked down on, and her erstwhile friends - on both sides - will have nothing to do with her. It will take some serious thought about what it really means to be a brave knight - and a friend - for Imogene to try and repair some of her damaged relationships and fix the things she's done wrong.

Jamieson's colorful art is reminiscent of Telgemeier's style, one of the reasons it makes a great read-alike - but she has a style all her own. Imogene's everyday life is interspersed with her own imaginative journeys into a fantasy world where she, a brave knight, slays dragons. The scenes in the Renaissance Faire will attract both faire aficionados and those who've never been, showing plenty of fun activity, a diverse group of people who work together as a family, and helping readers see both sides of Imogene's dilemma as she tries to fit in at school and still be true to her family and herself.

Jamieson does a really good job showing the difficulties Imogene gets into and how bullying isn't always simple and clear-cut. Imogene's parents at first assume she's being bullied, since she's different than the other kids, and are shocked and horrified when they find out what Imogene has done. Imogene herself has some hard lessons to learn, including taking a realistic look at the choices she's made and where she's ended up. The other kids and adults are all shown as relatable, fallible people. Parents make mistakes just like kids and nobody is all good or all bad. The story also addresses the difficulties of going from a more casual, homeschooled environment to a public school. While I could wish that the "hippie homeschooler" stereotype hadn't been used, this is a more realistic picture of adapting to middle school that both homeschooled and traditionally schooled kids can relate to.

Verdict: Readers who love the drama and angst of fitting in, figuring out friendships, growing up, and dealing with social anxieties will love this latest book, especially with its helping of faire fantasy on the side. A great read-alike for Telgemeier and other slice-of-life middle school comics. Highly recommended.

ISBN: 9780525429982; Published 2017 by Dial books for young readers/Penguin; Galley provided by publisher at ALA; Review copy provided by publisher and donated to the library; Purchased for the library (yes, we need all the copies) show less

This is great! As a renaissance faire loving, medieval recreating, sword fighting girl, this is the book I wish I had had growing up -- not least because as an adult I recognize the adults in this book -- they are also of my tribe. So I love all the trappings of it, but it's also a really excellent growing-up story, particularly in the realm of losing one's way and finding ways to make amends. Very nicely done.

Victoria Jamieson has done it again! I thought [b:Roller Girl|22504701|Roller Girl|Victoria Jamieson|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1447914095s/22504701.jpg|41951492] was a brilliantly realistic portrayal of early adolescence, friendship, and sports. ALL'S FAIRE is just as good, if not better.

This time the story is about a homeschooler transitioning to a public middle school. When I was a kid, saying someone was homeschooled meant they were weird. It was an insult, or maybe a way to let someone know they had broken an unspoken rule ("Dude, what are you doing? Were you, like, homeschooled or something?"). This has stuck with me so much that when I considered homeschooling my own kid, part of my brain was like, "No, don't. She'll show more turn out too weird." But, obviously, that's the part of my brain I need to shush. Really, it is a great gift to weird. To be yourself. To "do you" as the kids say (God, I'm old).

When I was in college there was a group of pretty hardcore Ren Faire kids. "Ren Faire" also became shorthand for weird, though it wasn't really meant as an insult. More like the extreme of unusual behavior ("Dude, what am I doing? Does this mean I have to, like, join Ren Faire now or something?"). Those Ren Faire kids seemed to live in their own little bubble and it was every bit as exclusive and clubby as a fraternity or sorority (not that I would really know -- I was a theatre nerd).

So this book combines these two "weird" things and gives the reader a completely endearing, relatable character in Impy. She has a good heart. She makes understandable mistakes. She tries to hide herself away to fit in with the popular group, but eventually can't stand the nastiness of the queen bee Mika. This sounds like a fairly generic plot, but there's magic in the details. As with ROLLER GIRL, there's a wonderful feeling of authenticity as you read the book. The characters come across as genuine and whole. The plot is satisfying. All around just fantastic. show less

Imogene a.k.a. Impy, embarks on two big milestones in her life, becoming a squire at the renaissance faire where her family works and attending middle-school after previously being home schooled. However, problems at school lead to problems at the faire and at home, too.

I loved Impy, in her good moments and the bad, I felt for her throughout, whether attempting to dress like the cool rich girl with much more expensive tastes than Impy could afford or when things went wrong between her and her sibling. I liked how imperfect Impy is and how realistically paced her growth seemed, everything felt like it happened gradually like it would in life, her increasing anxiety over fitting in at school, how that leads to mistakes and lashing out, show more all of it had an authentic relatable quality to it. show less

Aww. So sweet. Victoria Jamieson has done it again. I loved the roller derby setting of Roller Girl, but a Renaissance faire was even more fun. I love Jamieson’s characters- not perfect, not stereotypes, just kids trying to figure things out and sometimes making a mess of it.
This plunked me right down in memories. I remember going shopping for a particular pair of jeans that was THE pair to have (they had a roller skate on the back pocket, but they did not cost $110. Still, they must have been a splurge for my parents, and I’m surprised they bought them for me). I remember making bad decisions, not being nice, and being sorry I hurt someone. I think everyone does, which makes Imogene such a relatable character. I liked that making show more amends wasn’t easy or straightforward, but that amends were made.
Great story, great setting. Loved this. show less

Imogene, or Impy, has been homeschooled all her life but decides to attend a public middle school. She and her family have been actively involved with the Renaissance Faire for years; Impy regards everyone there part of her "fairemily." But the new school year and Faire season brings challenges for this young teen: new friends who turn out to be mean girls, trying but failing to fit in with the middle school scene, and taking on a higher-profile role at the Faire. When a series of actions lead to Impy being ostracized by her own family, she agonizes, "How could I explain what had happened...when I didn't really understand it myself?" As with "Roller Girl," Jamieson knows how to get to the core of a teenage girl's insecurities and lay show more them out in a way that target readers will appreciate and understand. Spot-on treatment of teenage angst. show less

Such a great story with the novelty of a main character whose family works for a Renaissance Faire, but the universal issues of losing your way and exploring who you are in early adolescence. The author, Victoria Jamieson, has such a talent for creating such realistic and relatable characters who get tangled up in the drama of growing up.